State Minister Akis Skertsos emphasized in a recent social media post that the government is not only implementing subsidy policies to tackle the housing crisis but has also been executing a comprehensive strategy over the past three years aimed at providing more affordable housing. This strategy includes a wide range of initiatives designed to boost the supply of properties.
“This approach will allow us to more effectively manage the high demand for both long- and short-term rentals in a market where many properties remain closed or underutilized due to their age or lack of maintenance. Therefore, a significant portion of our measures and allocated resources are directed toward this objective,” he stated.
The Minister of State outlined ten key policies focused on enhancing affordable housing and increasing the availability of homes for sale and rent:
“1) Limiting short-term rentals in over-saturated urban and tourist locations, along with stricter tax regulations for business short-term rentals.
2) Providing a 3-year rental income tax exemption for owners transitioning from short-term to long-term leases.
3) Offering a tax exemption of up to €16,000 for landlords who undertake energy renovations on their properties.
4) Introducing the “renovate-rent” program aimed at rehabilitating old, vacant properties.
5) Allocating €400 million in interest-free loans through the recovery fund for the energy upgrades of older buildings.
6) Effectively exempting specific areas from the “golden visa” policy.
7) Encouraging investors to renovate abandoned properties—whether industrial, commercial, or residential—for residential redevelopment.
8) Implementing social consideration for co-development with private entities to utilize idle state real estate for affordable housing.
9) Suspending VAT on new housing developments.
The My House 1 and 2 programs are designed to subsidize the purchase of older apartments for 30,000 beneficiaries and households.
10) Launching the “Save – Renovate for Young People” initiative, backed by a €300 million budget (comprised of €200 million from the Recovery Fund and €100 million from national resources).”
These initiatives are just a glimpse of our commitment to increasing real estate supply and addressing housing costs, he noted, acknowledging that such policies necessitate time to yield results.
“For this reason, we are also enacting immediate relief measures, such as raising the student housing allowance up to €2,500 and facilitating rent return interventions for nearly 1 million beneficiaries,” he added.
He assured that the government will continue its efforts, stating that in the near future, under the guidance of the relevant ministry and with support from the government presidency and the General Secretariat for Coordination, “we will intensify initiatives to tackle this pressing social issue.”
The Minister mentioned that citizens would have access to a dedicated digital platform to explore the various affordable housing policies available and find the options that fit their needs.
“We are establishing an inter-ministerial committee involving all relevant ministries to improve the coordination of our policies.
Additionally, we will launch a housing policy observatory to regularly monitor market price trends and the uptake of our programs,” he said.
Lastly, he indicated that following Easter, the social consideration initiative would be revised with new incentives designed to enhance the attractiveness of utilizing vacant public real estate. Mr. Skertsos concluded, “Affordable housing is a fundamental right and ranks among the top five priorities of the government, alongside economic growth, quality public health and education, and safe public transportation.”
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