Greece’s aging housing stock is driving households to look for newer properties, and instead of buying, households are renting, according to an article at OT.
Greece’s Housing Woes
Greece’s national statistic authority, ELSTAT, reveals that just 16 out of 100 houses are less than 25 years old, which is a general problem in Europe.
ELSTAT also shows that the majority of homes, 68% or 4,485,795 out of a total of 6,596,758, were built between 1961 and 2000.
Meanwhile 15.5% or 1,022,497 were constructed before 1961 and only 16.5% have been built after 2001.
OT highlights that Greece had particularly high home ownership rates in 2005, when nearly 85% of Greeks owned their own home. After the protracted finanical crisis in the country, this number dropped to 70.3% by 2021.
On the Move
Thousands of households are leaving their own homes to move to rentals, which OT attributes to the fact that 80% of homes were built before 2000 and the pricetag for upgrades is too steep.
The fluxuations in home ownership and rentals have left 793,884 homes vacant in 2021, with 255,000 of these homes located in the greater Attica region.
There seems to be a discrepancy in the available data however, as pointed out by OT, as tax returns show that 600,000 homes are vacant. OT does not state what could account for the differences, however.
The Greek Government’s Plan for Housing
In reaction to the general lack of availability of housing in Greece, the Greek government has announced a series of measures that aim to get vacant homes available on the market for long-term rental.
The incentives will start in November, and include interest-free loans, subsidies and tax releif for property owners.
