Ombudsman Demands Urgent Overhaul of State Rent Support, Citing “Grave Irregularities” and Systemic Collapse
The Provedoria de Justiça, Portugal’s national Ombudsman, has formally called on the government to conduct an “urgent review” of the extraordinary rent support program, following the identification of “grave irregularities” and a near-total breakdown in administrative procedure. In a formal recommendation sent to the Secretary of State for Housing, Patrícia Gonçalves Costa, the Ombudsman’s office described a “general and persistent inability to respond” from the state apparatus since the program was launched in March 2023 to aid tenants facing rising housing costs.
The policy initiative, which was recently extended until 2028, has been the subject of a significant volume of public complaints, which reportedly intensified in 2025. The grievances primarily concern the unjustified suspension or reduction of payments and, in some cases, demands from the Instituto da Segurança Social (ISS) for the full restitution of funds already paid out to beneficiaries. The Ombudsman’s investigation concluded that the program is failing to uphold the basic rights and guarantees of citizens as enshrined in the Code of Administrative Procedure.
According to the document released this Tuesday, the state has systematically failed in its duty to inform and notify citizens of changes to their support status, has not provided legal justification for its administrative acts, and has denied interested parties their right to a prior hearing before decisions are made. This has created a state of legal uncertainty for thousands of beneficiaries. The report points to a dysfunctional process where citizens are passed “from service to service, in search of clarification” for their issues, revealing deep-seated difficulties in articulation between the responsible public entities.
The root causes of the chaos are attributed to several factors, including severe “limitations of the IT platforms” used to manage the support scheme, a chronic shortage of qualified human resources to process cases, and fundamental flaws in the organization and operation of the involved services. These “entropies,” as the report terms them, have led to a systemic failure that undermines the core purpose of the housing support policy. The Ombudsman expressed profound “preocupação” (concern) with the situation’s gravity, particularly as the support mechanism is legislated to continue for several more years.
The document highlights a clear disconnect between the policy’s intent and its execution. It details how the lack of transparency and poor inter-agency communication—specifically between the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU), the Tax and Customs Authority (AT), and the Social Security Institute (ISS)—has created an opaque and punitive environment for citizens the program was designed to help. The report states that in a “clara maioria das situações reportadas” (clear majority of reported situations), citizens were left without answers or recourse.
The call for an urgent review underscores the unsustainability of the current model. The Provedoria de Justiça argues that the government must act swiftly to correct the course of a major national housing policy that is currently causing significant distress to its intended beneficiaries. The findings suggest that without fundamental reform, the program will continue to operate in a manner that is inefficient, unjust, and ultimately damaging to public trust in state institutions. The office of the Secretary of State for Housing has yet to issue a formal public response to the Ombudsman’s detailed and critical assessment.
Understand policy impacts on your Portugal property plans at realestate-lisbon.com.
