‘Unsolved puzzle’ proves problems housing facing citizens, with government measures not yet seem sufficient to overturn a situation that plagues thousands of households who are forced to go out on the real estate market for finding a for lease.
And this is because the biggest challenge nowadays is to find a home that is both economical and decent to meet the housing needs of a family without shaking the family budget, despite the fact that the government’s measures are multifaceted and multiple.
The latter also includes a rent of a rent annually to tenants, with income and property criteria announced by the prime minister and specialized by the financial staff on Tuesday (25.04.2025).
Speaking to Newsit.gr, they say that while such a measure is in the right direction as it increases the purchasing power of tenants without insulting market laws, it is inadequate and incomplete as it provides the minimum possible, which is not enough to have it.
They say that in the past, the rents were essentially a bilateral agreement between the landlord and a tenant, and now the new rents are determined by what the market will offer, without letting the landlord get a lot of room for the rented rent itself.
However, the laws of the market themselves, namely supply and demand, are that shape the housing problem in Greece. As real estate market players point out, the problem stems from the lack of adequate offerings available for renting, a multifactorial phenomenon.
Why do the owners do not take out their homes for hiring
While the financial staff states that with the rented return, tenants will now have an interest in pushing the landlord to declare the entire rent, the owners themselves explain that a key factor that prevents many of them from getting their houses in Greece.
They point out that no other tax category includes a rate of up to 45% on the highest scales, without tax -free, as rental revenue is taxed from the first euro even on the 1st scale.
They believe that with this tax environment it is unprofitable to lease real estate for many owners who keep them closed. A phenomenon that will be strengthened, especially for those who have declared less rents so far than those who have really received them as their taxation will increase.
The same factors point out that during the years of the debt crisis, too many properties passed on banks and funds, which keep them closed as they do not consider the rental solution advantageous, preferring to sell them through auctions or other methods.
These categories of owners, that is, investors (eg by Golden Visa), funds, real estate companies – unlike traditional Greek owners who want to maintain their properties – have bought “cuts” in crisis and now still exploit the high demand that is still in the house. bigger profits.
The third reason referring to newsit.gr is the fact that residential reserve in Greece is “aging”, demanding high -cost renovation work to make energy efficient and in general.
In this regard, real estate market players point out that none of the government measures that have been implemented to date for the “opening” and re -leasing of houses (such as the 3 -year tax exemption for the allocation of closed property or energy upgrading programs).
They point out that Greeks are not a people of tenants, as the country has the highest proportion of ownership in Europe by 80% – 83%, which rises to 95% in the province, and falls to 75% – 77% in urban centers. That is, in rent it is less than ¼ of Greeks. Of these, 60% rent the same homes for years with relatively low rents that have been shaped at times.
So there is a number of people who are “competing” with houses for rent, who are not sufficient as there is a small percentage of new houses.
As a result of all of the above, a huge imbalance between supply and demand has been set up, which has led to the launch of rents in recent years.
‘Gap’ between rent and salaries growth
Elements of the Bank of Greece show that after Greece’s sinking into bankruptcy and recession that struck “dips” and the prices of the houses, the march is more and more up every year.
The annual increase in 2018 was 1.8%, 2019 was 7.2%, in 2020, the year the pandemic broke out, slowed at 4.5%. Since then, the uphill begins again. In 2021 the increase accelerates to 7.6%, 2022 to 11.9%, 2023 13.9%, and temporary data for 2024 show an increase of 8.7%, while the final figures are pending.
The first picture for 2025 is no better. ELSTAT’s latest inflation report shows that rents increased only in February, on a 10%year -over -year basis. In the six years in depth, in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2019, an increase of more than 53%is recorded, that is, they exceed tens of percentage points and the increase in inflation itself and the increase in wages itself.
Since 2019, since this “leap” has taken place in rent, the minimum wage has increased cumulatively by approximately 35% without the average salary, which seems to “find it difficult” to catch the government’s target at 1,500 euros by 2027.
It is noteworthy that even today the average salary remains lower than the years before the crisis (€ 1,460 in 2009) when rents were much cheaper.
Even if the Bank of Greece’s forecasts are verified for an annual increase in salaries by 5% by 2028 (the medium -term provides 4.5%), rents will have to stay “frozen” for many years (if not fall) in order to gradually return balance between the level of income …