Affordable housing

The government and the realty market are pinning significant hopes on the success of the "Renovate-Rent" program ("Anakainizo-Enoikiazo" in Greek), in order to increase the supply of available apartments for long-term renting. 

According to the available data, residential rental rates have been rising much faster than salaries in recent years, making some neighborhoods, and especially in central Athens, too expensive for young house-hunters. Why is this happening? And what can be done about it?

New data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) sheds light on the housing landscape in Bulgaria, painting a picture of the majority of Bulgarians residing in older homes.

Authorities removed squatters from the premises of Democritus University of Thrace in Komotini, northeastern Greece, during a police operation on Saturday morning.

A group of individuals had been occupying a space within the university premises since Friday morning. Police intervention occurred at the request of the university's rector authorities. There was no report of arrests.

A building belonging to the Technical University of Crete in Hania, which had been used as a squat, was raided in the early hours of Monday by police.

According to sources cited by the Athens- Macedonian News Agency (AMNA), authorities made nine detentions without arrests.

Thessaloniki is the “champion” with the largest annual decrease in the number of available properties in 2023, whether it’s for rent or for sale, in all property categories

The Treasury and Finance Ministry has started to collect information from tenants in order to accurately determine rental income.

The ministry, which sent letters to tenants asking for a meeting about rents, has now told tenants, "You do not need to come to the ministry, you can fill out a form online."

The number of people living in houses they own has dropped, as the cost of buying or renting has skyrocketed and demand for homes by Greek and foreign buyers has strengthened.

The housing problem is now acute and Greece must find ways of dealing with it while lacking any social housing tools, in contrast to the rest of Europe, where such interventions cover 20%-30% of the market.

Alejandro Gkikopoulos stands in his shop, Polyamorous, in downtown Exarchia. Specializing in flowers and spirits, it was recently vandalized by unknown perpetrators purportedly seeking to stem the tide of gentrification in this once-bohemian Athenian neighborhood. Subsequent attacks occurred on other businesses perceived as contributing to the area's changing character and rising prices.

At dawn, the police proceeded to evacuate the area from the squatters - A short time later, young people proceeded to re-occupy!