Consumer rights with regard to the purchase and sale of real estate have been strengthened. Decree-Law no. 84/2021, which came into force on January 1, 2022, increased the guarantee periods for real estate from 5 to 10 years when nonconformities are detected regarding structural building elements. The 5-year period remains the same for all other breaches of conformity.
At issue are purchase and sale contracts concluded between a professional and a consumer for urban buildings for residential purposes.
And what is meant by a professional? “Any natural or legal person, public or private, acting (...) for purposes related to their commercial, industrial, craft or professional activity, with regard to contracts covered by the decree-law,” the document states. In turn, a consumer is defined as a natural person who, in the contracts covered, acts for purposes that do not fall within the scope of their commercial, industrial, craft or professional activity.
Thus, a professional is liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity that exists when the property is delivered to him and becomes apparent within 10 years in relation to lacks of conformity relating to structural building elements, and 5 years in relation to other lacks of conformity.
What is non-conformity of real estate?
From the outset, it is understood that the professional has a duty to deliver to the consumer real estate that complies with the contract of sale and that presents characteristics of quality, safety, habitability, environmental protection and functionality. These same characteristics must be present in the technical data sheet of the home.
Non-compliance of real estate exists if one of the following cases occurs, according to the law:
- They do not conform to the description given by the professional or do not possess the qualities of the goods that the professional has presented to the consumer as a sample or model;
- They are not suitable for the specific use for which they are intended by the consumer, provided that the professional has been informed of this use and has accepted it;
- They are not suitable for the uses to which goods of the same type are normally put;
- They do not have the qualities and performance which are customary in goods of the same type and which the consumer can reasonably expect, taking into account the nature of the goods and, where appropriate, the public statements about their specific characteristics made by the trader, the producer or his representative, in particular in advertising.
In the event of a lack of conformity of the property, the consumer has the right to have it restored, free of charge, by repair or replacement, a proportional reduction in the price or termination of the contract. And the same decree-law also states that the “repair or replacement of the immovable property must be carried out within a reasonable time, taking into account the nature of the lack of conformity, without serious inconvenience to the consumer”.
Source: idealista/news