Buying an apartment in Cape Verde is not just buying walls: it means buying a fraction of a building held in co-ownership — propriedade horizontal — with common parts, collective decisions and a title that must describe precisely what you own. That regime was rewritten by the Lei n.º 57/X/2025, de 05 de agosto, which came into force the day after its publication. This guide replaces neither your notary, nor the land registry, nor your municipality's planning department.
What the 2025 law changes
The Lei n.º 57/X/2025 alters “o Código Civil em matéria do regime jurídico da propriedade horizontal”, makes the second amendment to the Código do Notariado, the third amendment to the Código do Registo Predial and the second amendment to the legal regime of urban development operations. It entered into force on the day following its publication (art. 6). The vocabulary shift is not cosmetic: the regime no longer speaks of a “completed building” but of “prédio”.
Co-ownership can now exist before the works are finished
The rewritten article 1394 specifies that “prédio abrange o prédio rústico, o prédio urbano e o prédio misto”. And article 1395, paragraph 2, opens co-ownership to “prédios rústicos e mistos, bem como os edifícios por construir ou em construção”: such property can only be held in co-ownership on the basis of loteamento, urbanisation, infrastructure or construction plans “previamente aprovados pelas entidades competentes e registados na conservatória do registo predial da sua situação”. Each fraction must remain an independent, separate and isolated unit with its own exit to a common part or to the public road.
Practical consequence: relative values can be set before the building is finished. Article 1398, paragraph 3, provides that, for a building yet to be built or under construction, the relative value of each fraction is determined “com base no valor global de construção, constante do projeto ou declarado pelo proprietário”.
At the end of the works: from provisional to definitive registration
Article 1395, paragraph 3, sets out two paths. Without any change to the title: the owner applies for the “conversão definitiva do respetivo registo predial”, attaching the certificate from the competent municipal service confirming that nothing changed. With changes — number of fractions, composition, relative values: the owner draws up and signs a “documento particular autenticado de modificação”, supported by the confirming certificate from the municipal service, followed by notarial registration and the definitive conversion of the registry entry.
On the registry side, article 105, paragraph 1 b) of the Código do Registo Predial provides for the “registo provisório por natureza” of a co-ownership constituted over rural or mixed property, or over buildings to be built or not yet completed. The law also adjusts how urban development operations are recorded: their registration gives rise to a description of the plots or parcels that are already legally individualised (art. 93, paragraph 3).
Changing the title, deciding on works
Article 1399 allows the constitutive title to be changed by public deed or by “documento particular autenticado”, unilaterally or by agreement of the absolute majority of co-owners, reached in a general meeting or through a notarial instrument of consent. Where agreement fails, the lack of agreement may be supplied by a court when the votes of the co-owners withholding consent represent less than one tenth of the invested capital and the change affects neither the conditions of use, nor the relative value, nor the purpose of their fractions. The administrator may sign the act on behalf of the co-ownership.
For innovations, article 1405 requires in principle the approval of a majority representing two thirds of the total value of the building. Two cases fall under a simple majority, but only “havendo pelo menos oito frações autónomas”: the installation of lifts and of piped gas. And where a member of the household has reduced or conditioned mobility, any co-owner may, after prior notice to the administrator — fifteen days in advance — and in compliance with the applicable technical accessibility standards, carry out the corresponding innovations: access ramps and lifting platforms.
The use authorisation, fraction by fraction
The end of the works is not only a co-ownership matter. Article 55 of the urban development regime, rewritten by the same law, provides that, in a building or plot held in co-ownership, “a licença ou autorização de utilização pode ter por objeto o edifício ou terreno na sua totalidade ou cada uma das suas frações autónomas”. For one or more separate fractions, it may only be granted if the common parts of the buildings or plots concerned “estejam também em condições de serem utilizadas”. And the application for certification by the Câmara Municipal — confirming that the building meets the required conditions — may be integrated into the use authorisation request.
What to check in the file
- Does the constitutive title describe each fraction and set its relative value? The law provides for nullity where the required specification is missing or where the stated purpose diverges from the approved project (art. 1398, paragraph 5).
- Is the title consistent with the approval title — loteamento, urbanisation, infrastructure or construction? The law forbids provisions incompatible with it.
- Is the registration provisional or definitive, and if the building was under construction, has the conversion been carried out?
- For an act constituting co-ownership of a building still to be built: a “documento particular autenticado” supported by the certificate issued by the competent municipal body, for the same fees and charges as a public deed (Código do Notariado, art. 80).
- Does the file cover common expenses and insurance? The preamble to the law refers to co-owners' duty to contribute to those expenses (art. 1406), unless a refusal is held justified by a court, and to broader insurance cover for floods, storms and damage to underground infrastructure (art. 1409).
A regime still to be developed
Article 1418-A of the Código Civil remains explicit: “O Governo, por Decreto-Lei, desenvolve e regulamenta o regime jurídico da propriedade horizontal.” In other words, the 2025 law sets the framework and further regulation is expected to detail it. Before signing, have a professional confirm the exact state of the title, the registration and the municipal authorisations for the building you are targeting.