Latest news and stories about social security in property in Portugal for expats and residents.
One year after reporting her situation, Ana Paula dos Santos, now a mother of four, continues to live in a social emergency accommodation centre while waiting for housing in Loures.
The woman is tenth on the social housing list, but as recently as the 10th, during her last meeting with Social Security, she was told she must continue looking for a home.
A Chega party member was dismissed after it was revealed she managed a property 'empire' with allegedly illegal housing units rented to immigrants.
An audit recommends rents in line with the market, since these are not social housing.
The Financial Management Institute disputes an IGF audit, saying 836 of the properties are industrial units, plots of land and storage units. Many are under refurbishment or occupied unlawfully.
Portugal’s Social Security owns thousands of properties across the country. Many are empty, poorly recorded and generating no income, yet they continue to weigh on public finances. What is failing in the management of Social Security’s property portfolio? Listen to the new episode of Economia dia a dia, Expresso’s daily podcast, presented by Juliana Simões.
Social Security says the majority of the properties were “industrial units, rural land and storage units”.
A recent report reveals that over a third of properties owned by Portugal's Social Security system are lying vacant or unused, prompting concerns about asset management and potential waste of public resources.
In total, there are 854 vacant units under the supervision of the Institute for Financial Management of Social Security (IGFSS). Public entities occupying its buildings have accumulated more than €33 million in rent arrears.
In addition to vacant units, Social Security is owed more than €33 million in unpaid rent on properties owned by public bodies and on homes assigned to the market-rent and social-rent schemes.
Social Security has 854 vacant properties out of 2,561 under its management. Rents owed by public bodies occupying its buildings exceed 33 million euros.
An IGF audit finds €33.7 million owed by 19 public entities occupying Social Security properties and a 31% rise in rents outstanding
A parliamentary move — despite abstentions from PSD and CDS-PP — brings Portugal closer to lengthening the initial parental leave available to working parents. The new episode of the 'Ao Trabalho!' podcast examines that development alongside other labour‑market highlights, offering concise analysis of labour, social-security and employment-law developments every Thursday.
An IGF audit of the Institute of Financial Management’s property portfolio finds that Social Security is holding 854 empty homes while Portugal faces an unprecedented housing crisis. The report criticises inefficient asset management, poor utilisation and weak oversight of the Social Security housing stock, creating lost opportunities to relieve market pressure. The findings point to a need for clearer inventory, faster reallocation or disposal procedures, and greater transparency and coordination between agencies to convert idle public housing into usable supply.
A couple and their underage son have been left homeless in Évora.
A citizens' initiative that gathered more than 42,000 signatures has forced Parliament to reopen debate on reforming initial parental leave. The proposal — to extend leave from the current 120/150 days to 180/210 days (effectively six months) at 100% pay regardless of how it is shared between parents — will be reconsidered in the Assembly of the Republic after an earlier attempt was nullified by the dissolution of the Assembly and the fall of the Government in March 2025. An earlier related extension was approved on 27 September 2024, but procedural developments and the renewed petition have brought the issue back onto the legislative agenda.
Ana Rita Pinheiro doesn't work so she can care for her five-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy.
The Socialist Party (PS) will submit a bill titled “Coming Home” to Parliament proposing the creation of transitional residences aimed at reducing social institutionalisation. The policy seeks to shift care from large institutions to local, secure accommodation that supports reintegration, bridging healthcare and housing needs. Analytically, the measure could advance deinstitutionalisation and community-based care, but its success will depend on funding, local delivery capacity, regulatory safeguards and clear pathways to permanent housing.
Support is paid monthly upon presentation of proof of rent payment, to ensure the subsidy is directly applied to maintaining the accommodation.
