Household costs are too high

Greece remains the European country with the highest burden on households regarding home expenditure in proportional terms, with its rate at four times the European Union average.

According to the latest data released by Eurostat a few days ago, concerning 2018, 39.5% of the Greek population have to spend over 40% of their disposable income on costs related to the property they live in. This compares with an average rate of 9.6% among the 27 EU member-states.

The limit of 40% has been set as a reference rate, as above that it is estimated households are excessively burdened. Home-related costs include rent, property ownership taxes, utility bills, heating expenditure and maintenance or repairs.

Therefore four out of 10 Greeks have to pay excessive amounts of money in relation to their incomes to cover their most basic need - i.e. housing - as a result of the...