Lisbon, Aug. 19, 2026 (Lusa) - The working group set up to examine Social Security reform argues that schemes should be put in place to make use of the property assets of low-income pensioners, in particular by allowing them to remain in their homes.

According to the report to which Lusa had access, Portuguese households' wealth is concentrated in assets such as property, but a significant proportion of these households may, at the same time, face liquidity constraints in funding healthcare costs, care for dependants, home adaptations or long-term care.

In this context, the group led by economist Jorge Bravo suggests the implementation of «Equity Release Schemes» – schemes that «allow property wealth to be partially converted into income and/or services, whilst preserving, depending on the contractual arrangement chosen, the right to remain in the home for the rest of one's life or until moving to another residential facility».

These measures are relevant in Portugal, the experts said, given the coexistence of factors such as a high rate of home ownership, low levels of voluntary financial savings and a strong preference for remaining in one's usual residence and for passing on property to future generations.

The solutions aim to «enable anyone who so wishes, on a voluntary basis, to find ways of utilising their property assets for welfare purposes, which may be to supplement their income or to fund healthcare», explained Jorge Bravo during the presentation of the report, which took place this Tuesday in Lisbon. He added that the scheme is intended for those who «are wealthy in terms of assets, but have limited financial resources».

These schemes offer various options, depending on preferences such as whether to sell the property, which may be a main residence or a second home, inherited property or investment property, whether the owner intends to remain in the property or move out, and whether or not there is an outstanding mortgage.

One may opt, for example, for a sale involving a change of residence, ‘home reversion' schemes, property-backed loans, reverse mortgages, ‘let-to-let & mortgage' models and integrated life-cycle solutions.

In solutions involving continued residence in a property, there are ‘home reversion' or ‘sale and leaseback' models, which preserve the right of residence but transfer ownership wholly or partly to a third party, whilst in secured credit solutions, such as reverse mortgages, ownership of the asset is retained, but debt accumulates.

The aim of these measures is «to strengthen the financial autonomy of older people, support their continued residence in their own homes, finance formal care, promote the functional adaptation of housing, diversify the sources of funding for supplementary social protection, and stimulate regulated markets in the financial, insurance, property and care sectors», according to the report, which also advocates a phased implementation, beginning with the creation of a specific legal and regulatory framework for this area.

The economist also pointed out that «those who resort to these solutions should continue to receive other social support; therefore, this should in no way influence their decision».

The team submitted the final report to the Government in July and presented it on Tuesday; amongst the various proposals, it suggests creating new retail-segment public debt instruments to supplement pensions, or adopting occupational pension schemes with automatic enrolment that allow for opt-out.

MES/ADB // ADB.

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