1 in 3 households own more than 40% of the monthly income to cover their housing needs when the European average is 10%. Height rentreal estate prices and inflation they are expected to further increase this percentage, requiring other housing policies. A young man in Greece has been at a disadvantage compared to a European for many years in terms of the opportunity and financial opportunity to become independent from his parents by creating his own household.

Only 25.7% of households in Greece have one member, while the corresponding percentage in EUROPEAN UNION. exceeds 34%. An inflationary crisis that has driven up the cost of living, rising rents, and rising both interest rates and house prices. real estate are already making autonomy even more difficult. The cost of housing in our country is already the highest in Europe, and immediately after the elections, additional measures to solve the housing problem will – or should be – a priority of the new government. Eurostat statistics show that, as of 2021, Greeks face the highest costs of covering their housing needs in proportion to their income, while the latest figures are expected to show a further worsening of the problem.

Eurostat has compiled an index that measures how “difficult” housing needs have become from an economic point of view. This indicator calculates the percentage of the population that is forced to allocate more than 40% of their annual disposable income just to meet their housing needs. In Greece, this percentage reached 32.4% in cities and 22% in the rest of the regions in 2021. No other country has such a high percentage. Denmark is in second place with 21.9% and the Netherlands in 3rd place with 15.3%, while in areas outside the cities Greeks are in the worst position with 22% and Bulgarians (13.3%) and Romanians (10.8%). Suffice it to say that the EU average for cities is 10.4% (i.e., only 10.4% of Europeans give more than 40% of their annual income to home) and 6.2% for other regions.

We have the highest proportion of households with three or more adult members in Europe.

These statistics largely reflect the consequences of the multi-year recession in Greece during the period of the memorandum. Wages have fallen, government housing policy has ground to a halt (since 2012, OEC has been closed), banks have stopped lending as they were forced to contend with a huge portfolio of problem loans, and thousands of properties have gone off the market and remain vacant due to the default of their owners to support their. OUR energy crisis which has driven home prices up (electricity bills may have stabilized, but costs are at least 60% above 2021 levels), an inflationary crisis that has pushed property prices up and is now lowering rents, but also rising interest rates, seems to make the problem even worse, which is expected to be reflected in the statistics in the coming years.

In Greece, 73.7% of owners live on their own property (compared to 69.9% on average in Europe), but of these, 11.8% have mortgaged their home, apparently because of a mortgage or other loan. In Europe, the corresponding percentage is 26.1%. The difference is understandable if we take into account that the housing loan in Greece has remained almost “frozen” for more than 13 years, since only in the last 1-2 years, disbursements have begun again, and at a moderate pace due to the growth of the housing loan. the value of money.

Approximately one in four is a tenant in Greece (26.7% compared to 30% in the EU). Where the country shows a big difference compared to Europe is in the composition of households. Young people cannot build their own house and live alone. Single member households account for 25.7% compared to 34% in the EU. In fact, if we also take into account the age criterion, the percentage drops to 12.1%. That is, only 12.1% of households in Greece are made up of people under 65, while the corresponding percentage in the EU is 19.4%. Mainly because of the cost, Greeks prefer to live in the same house more. We have the highest percentage of households with three or more adults in Europe (14.3%), while the EU average is 7.7%.

Recently announced mortgage subsidy program DOUBLE there is a lot of interest, and the number of applications has already exceeded 3,000. However, the number of households that will eventually be served will be small (5,000 or 10,000 if the program budget is doubled). Therefore, after the election, an acceleration will be requested on the housing policy front with measures to reduce the stock of closed properties (in order to increase supply) and additional subsidies for the acquisition of property and the adoption of measures for short-term rentals, so that long-term rentals do not become a “calvary” for the interested person to build their own economy.