Public housing

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.

As the average tenant spends over a third of his or her monthly income to cover housing costs, renters' unions, organizations which are common elsewhere in Europe, are starting to gain ground in Greece too.

The problem of many people in finding affordable housing has become a pressing issue in almost all the major cities of the West. The government has taken and continues to take measures to support young would-be property owners or tenants.

The government plans to make total funding of 1.5 billion euros available over the coming years as part of its goal to reactivate social housing.

Cypriot Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou introduced the government's new housing policy on Tuesday.

In his opening statement, he outlined a comprehensive plan involving multiple levels of actions and measures, which allocates 77 million euros over a five-year period for the implementation of specific initiatives.

Huge projects are due to deliver new neighbourhoods in Prague. Photo: Central Group Priced out

In the Hungarian capital, buyers need more than 16 average annual salaries to buy a 75 square metre (m2) apartment. This means that if you start working at 23 and miraculously don't spend on anything else, at 40 you can own a home. This trend accelerated especially from 2015 on.

A new public housing development in Ljubljana called Rakova Jelša II has been officially opened. The EUR 22.5 million project includes five apartment buildings with 156 non-profit rental flats and a stand-alone multi-purpose building with community facilities.

The family won't allow BIRN to publish their names nor take any photos of the apartment or building, for fear the neighbours might identify and harass them.

Within the scope of the İlk Evim (My First Home) Project, the first drawing of lots for Istanbul's Tuzla district took place on March 16, with owners of 20,920 new houses determined already.

The draw was held at Tuzla Viaport Marina in the municipality's event tent at 10 a.m. and was broadcast live online.

Within the scope of Türkiye's first mass housing project, a comprehensive restoration work is being carried out in the Saraçoğlu neighborhood with the "Revitalization of Saraçoğlu Neighborhood Project," which is carried out with a completely nature and environment-centered approach.