The government’s plan to restart youth housing policy, to address both the increased cost of living and the demographic problem, provides for the use of state-owned ΔΥΠΑ real estate and partnerships with the private sector for the construction of new buildings, subsidies for renovations, and interest-free loans to buy or rent a home .
The rent is growing – it is typical that in most areas of the capital region the prices for a two-room apartment already exceed 500-600 euros per month. With the current cost of living, young people need government support programs. The government is expected to introduce a €1.5 billion program to provide affordable housing for young people under the age of 29 and young couples.
Minister of State Akis Skertsos said Thursday in a statement to the State Television First Program EPT-1 that announcements will be made by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Thessaloniki International Fair.
The government plan provides for two forms of support: either in the form of a state grant or in the form of interest-free loans of 25,000 euros with an additional 5,000 euros for each dependent family member and a repayment period of 15 years.
According to TV channel ΣΚΑΙ, the program to be presented at TIF includes subsidizing the interest rate on a loan for the purchase, renovation or completion of a first home, and subsidizing rent based on income and social criteria.
The beneficiaries will be private sector workers, as well as government employees and freelancers. €1.5 billion to finance the government’s housing program will come from contributions from the Public Employment Service (formerly OAED), use of public property and partnerships with private parties to build new buildings.
According to the same sources, 200 land plots, 100 buildings and 100 vacant plots belonging to the former OAED are expected to be provided in the first stage. “We have a lot of facilities that are closed. If we improve the condition of these facilities, that is, if we can make them habitable, this will lead to a decrease in the number of facilities, and hence to lower prices, both for state and for private closed facilities,” noted, among other things, Minister of State Akis Skertos, speaking on air at ERT-1.
This is an issue related to cheaper housing, he explained, estimating that an increase in the supply of real estate will lead to lower prices, and in this context, he announced important statements by the Prime Minister at the International Fair in Thessaloniki. The center of Athens must be populated first, and this includes, among other things, incentives to make housing cheaper for young people, he stressed.
Rent to own
In terms of relaunching housing policy, the rent to own model occupies a “prominent place” (a fixed-term lease with an option to buy before the lease expires). Long tried and tested abroad, the rent to own program is precisely aimed at facilitating the acquisition of real estate for workers who cannot immediately pay the full amount required to buy a home and who do not have access to bank loans.
The beneficiaries pay the rent agreed with the OAED, retaining the ability to buy the rental property at a predetermined time and at a discounted price by taking out an interest-free loan.
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