Housing policy: What the Greek PM will announce at Thessaloniki

Interest-free loans, subsidies and state aid are expected to be included in the government’s new housing policy program, which is to be announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the opening of the Thessaloniki International Fair – TIF.

The government’s new housing policy will be implemented next year and will aim to support young couples using the €1.5 billion reserve of the Public Employment Service (formerly OAED).

Recently the Minister of Labor, Kostis Hatzidakis, emphasized that the government will attempt to “re-stimulate” the housing policy, as for many years, there was no substantial, central and coordinated housing policy.

Mostly young couples

The new housing policy will focus mainly on young couples, as the cost of housing is high and this fact creates pressure and exacerbates the demographic issue as well.

A special working group has been established for this reason, with the aim of formulating specific proposals for the implementation of the provisions of the relevant law, while officials at the highest government level are dealing with this issue, and the prime minister himself will make the final announcements.

Rent subsidy and loans

Rent subsidy measures are the immediate priority, followed by lending for the acquisition of a residence. And this is because lending will require the drawing of large sums from the Public Employment Service reserves in the Bank of Greece, but also the involvement – at least in the case of interest rate subsidies – of the banks as well.

In the recent law tendered by the current Minister of Labor, the Public Employment Service is given the ability of acquiring unstructured and structured properties that are necessary for the exercise of its responsibilities and the achievement of its housing policies. In this context, the Service can cooperate with public or private entities for the construction of real estate in order to promote government policies regarding the housing protection of the workforce and its families.

The Public Employment Service will be able to purchase or lease plots of land for development through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and will implement a variety of individual actions that may be:

Concession with a low rent so that in a few years with appropriate arrangements the employee can buy the property (rent-to-own).
Rent subsidies.
Interest rate subsidies.
The subsidy for buying a first home or renovating existing buildings in order to make them available to workers.
The housing programs will not only target the workforce but also young people as a whole, as the government is interested in supporting the start-up of young couples with the aim of addressing the acute demographic problem and housing workers, especially young workers.

Finally, there are suggestions that imply the possibility of covering up to 80% of the rent, through the rent subsidy program. The percentage of the subsidy will be determined by criteria that have to do with the declared income of the beneficiaries as well as the amount of rent and the surface area of the residence.