The house collapsed, and help was stuck between departments: Petralona residents were left alone with the courts

After the collapse four-storey building on Alkminis Street in Petralona, ​​its residents and apartment owners We encountered a new problem: who should help people who in a few seconds Have you lost your home, things, documents and your usual life?

As criminal and civil investigations begin, seven families find themselves in a legal gray area.

The house collapsed not due to an earthquake, fire or officially recognized natural disaster, but next to a private construction site.

Therefore, the ministries refer to the lack of direct powers, and the municipality of Athens says that it does not have a legislative mechanism for full compensation for such losses.

As a result, the victims received primary assistance, but a full answer to the question “where to live tomorrow and at whose expense?” Not yet.

The main thing is several points

• The house at 20–22 Alkminis Street collapsed on June 30; Seven families were left homeless.
• The Municipality of Athens allocated €3,000 to each affected family or apartment owner.
• Four out of seven households took advantage of temporary accommodation through housing vouchers.
• The voucher value is approximately €700, housing vouchers.
• The voucher size is approximately €700, the initial placement period is about 10 days.
• The Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family said it did not have the authority to make such payments or temporary housing.
• The Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection helps in cases of natural disasters, but not in private construction accidents.
• Victims face a separate civil battle for compensation with the contractor, engineers and, possibly, the construction insurer.
• The key question may be: was the five-story polykatoikia building under construction at Alkminis 22 insured?

After the collapse: seven families without a home

A four-story building on Alkminis Street collapsed on the afternoon of June 30 during active work on a neighboring site. Miraculously, no one was killed or injured, since the residents were outside the building at the time of the collapse.

But the absence of deaths does not mean the absence of a disaster. People lost apartments, furniture, documents, personal belongings, equipment, clothes and everything that cannot be quickly listed in an official act.

As before Athens News reported Residents spoke of a noticeable leaning of the building, strange noises the night before, and active work near the house. The investigation is examining the role of excavation work, foundation construction, design decisions and the possible need to strengthen a neighboring structure.

Read more: “Collapse of a house in Petralona: residents warned about the tilt, but the project did not require strengthening”

Municipality of Athens: €3,000 and temporary housing

While government agencies are defining the boundaries of their competence, the Municipality of Athens remains the only body that has taken real steps.

The city provided emergency financial assistance in the amount of €3,000 each affected family or apartment owner. In addition, temporary accommodation is provided through short-term rental and hotel programs.

According to Athens Deputy Mayor for Social Solidarity Mina Fundzula, by July 2, four out of seven households had already applied for this assistance. Via voucher for approximately €700 they can choose affordable accommodation in Athens through Airbnb. Initially, we are talking about approximately ten days of stay.

Municipal social services are also helping people recover documents, identification cards and other papers that may have been left behind in the rubble.

But €3,000 and ten days of temporary accommodation is not a solution, but a short pause before a very long crisis.

Witness to the collapse pic.twitter.com/mRloatn1V1

— Athens News (@russianathens) July 1, 2026

Two ministries said: this is not our competence

In.gr journalists requested comments from the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family, as well as the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

The first agency responded that its mandate did not include finding temporary housing or providing benefits to people who had lost their homes in circumstances similar to the Petralona collapse.

The Second Ministry indicated that its support mechanism applies to citizens who have lost property as a result of natural disasters: earthquakes, fires, floods and other emergency events of this type.

It turns out to be an extremely Greek construction: the house was destroyed, people were left without a roof over their heads, but between the “natural disaster”, “private dispute” and “not our competence” there is no ready-made government assistance program for them.

Why Ambelokipi received help, but Petralona did not

The comparison with the house on Arcadia Street in Ambelokipi, which was damaged after an improvised device explosion in October 2024, is particularly inconvenient.

Then the residents received temporary housing, food and other support. Later, a special legislative measure was adopted that allowed the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection to help those affected.

The state’s logic was as follows: a terrorist attack is seen as an asymmetric threat to citizens and the country, and not as a conflict between private individuals.

For bureaucracy these are different cases. For a person who has lost his apartment, furniture, documents and the opportunity to live a normal life, the difference looks much less obvious.

@tasosxiarcho

♬ πρωτότυπος ήχος – Tasos Xiarcho HQ

The legal battle could be long and expensive.

A criminal investigation must establish whether irregularities were committed during the construction of the new polykatoikia. But even if it leads to charges, victims will need a separate civil process to receive compensation.

Claims are likely to be directed against those responsible for the project under construction: the contractor, engineers and other participants in the project if their liability is proven.

Compensation may include:

• the cost of destroyed apartments;
• the cost of furniture, equipment, documents and personal property;
• expenses for temporary housing;
• moral damage;
• possible additional costs associated with moving, storing things and restoring documents.

But it will be difficult to prove the value of all the property located in the apartment. People rarely have receipts for decades-old furniture, photos of each piece, or an accurate estimate of the personal items that ended up under the concrete and rebar.

Interim measures: the only quick way

Lawyers quoted by in.gr believe that the quickest tool could be interim measures against the contractor and other responsible persons.

Through such a procedure, victims could try to obtain monthly payments for living expenses until the final court decision. This will not replace full compensation, but will give families at least minimal financial support.

The problem is obvious: if those responsible do not have enough property or funds, even a positive decision may be difficult to implement. Their assets can be sold, but the amount may not be enough to cover all the compensation, especially if we are talking about seven apartments and dozens of victims.

Construction insurance can make all the difference

The key factor becomes the question of whether the five-story polykatoikia building under construction at Alkminis 22 was insured.

According to information from in.gr, which has not yet been officially confirmed, the object could have been insured as a small private construction enterprise. If so, the insurance company may become a viable source of compensation.

However, insurance does not mean automatic and quick payment. The insurer will likely carry out its own inspection and, if it is found to have been grossly deficient in construction or lack of necessary strengthening work, may then make recourse claims against the contractor or engineers.

For victims, insurance is important not as a legal detail, but as a possible answer to the main question: who will be able to pay before the courts are over.

Why compulsory insurance of private construction projects is becoming a necessity

Urban planning lawyers note that in recent years in Athens there has been a sharp increase in the number of demolitions of old houses and the construction of new polykatoikia in their place.

As the real estate market intensified, thousands of old buildings found themselves next to excavations, new foundations and heavy construction equipment. In such conditions, insurance for small private projects ceases to be an “additional option” and becomes basic protection not only for the developer, but also for neighbors.

Banks already require insurance policies when financing many construction projects. But for small private properties such insurance is not yet a universal and mandatory norm.

Alkminis’ story shows why this needs to change. When an old house collapses next to a construction site, the issue of insurance should not be inquired after the disaster. It must be resolved before the first bucket in the ground.

@tasosxiarcho

♬ πρωτότυπος ήχος – Tasos Xiarcho HQ

Editorial comment

After the collapse of a house on Alkminis, it became clear: in Greece you can lose your home, belongings, documents and normal life in a few seconds, and then find out that almost no one is formally responsible for temporary assistance.

The Ministry of Social Cohesion says it does not deal with such cases. The Ministry of Climate Crisis responds by helping with earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters. The Municipality of Athens recalls that it has no legal obligation to pay full compensation for the consequences of a private construction conflict.

In other words, the house has collapsed, but responsibility is still traveling between departments faster than people can find somewhere to sleep.

The municipality at least took the first step: allocated €3,000 and organized short-term accommodation. But ten days in Airbnb is not a solution for a family who has lost their apartment. This is just a respite before a long, expensive and technically complex legal war.

The comparison with Ambelokipi looks especially cynical. After the terrorist explosion, the state found a mechanism to help residents. But if a building is likely to collapse due to work at a nearby construction site, victims are told to go to court and wait for years. For the bureaucracy these are different categories. For people left without a home, this is the same catastrophe.

Now much depends on interim measures, the financial condition of the contractor and engineers, as well as on construction insurance. Without insurance and without a special decision from the state, residents may face the most Greek version of justice: they may have the right, but they will have to wait for an unknown amount of money to restore their lives.

After this story, we don’t need another round table, but a clear mechanism to help people who have lost their homes due to private construction accidents. As long as there is no such mechanism, each new construction site next to the old polykatoikia becomes not only an engineering risk, but also a lottery, where the losers are left alone with lawyers, insurers and temporary apartments.

Sources: “Athens News”: background to the collapse; in.gr: support for victims and legal perspectives.

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