Housing Crunch A Factor In Greek EU Vote

Kyriaki Tsouti and Dionyssis Giakoumelos are among those caught in the housing labyrinth.

Tsouti, 32, is unemployed. Her partner, Giakoumelos, also 32, clears 750 euros ($804) each month.

They want to start a family, but 60 percent of their income goes towards housing expenses.

And even in the semi-rural town of Koropi east of Athens, an 80-square-metre (860-square-foot) flat costs more than 500 euros a month, Tsouti told AFP.

“It’s a considerable increase for our tight budget,” she said.

It is a problem for increasing numbers of people in this country of 10.4 million.

Incomes slashed during the 2009-2018 debt crisis, have still not recovered.

In terms of household income, Greece ranks in 21st place among the 27 EU member states even after an increase in the minimum wage to 830 euros, according to EU data agency Eurostat.

According to a Bank of Greece report in November, Greeks spent 34.2 percent of household income on housing in 2022 compared to an EU average of 19.9 percent.

“With 1,000 euros per month and a rent of 550 euros excluding charges, what is left to live on?” said Nikoletta Diga a 36-year-old civil servant.

She was one of those who joined a recent demonstration in Athens calling for affordable rents. “I was forced to scramble to find a room-mate,” she said.

Between 2009 and 2022 salaries fell by 32 percent, according to figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Greece has the lowest wages among developed economies, says the OECD.

That — and the cuts to pensions during the debt crisis — dealt a major blow to the purchasing power of Greeks. It currently stands at just 67 percent of the European average, according to a Eurostat study published in March.

Only Bulgaria does worse.

Policies adopted after the Covid-19 pandemic to promote tourism made matters worse by pushing property prices out of the reach of ordinary people, said Thomas Maloutas, a professor of social geography at Athens’ Harokopio University.

In certain parts of Athens, entire buildings have been purchased by Chinese, Turkish, Russian or Middle Eastern investors.

This is thanks to a “golden visa” scheme also employed by fellow EU states Cyprus, Portugal and Spain.

Introduced during the Greek debt crisis to boost the economy, it grants foreign nationals a residence permit in return for investing several hundred thousand euros in real estate.

And as with other popular European travel destination, this has particularly hit the short-term rental sector, said Maloutas.

“The market is overvalued,” Maloutas said.

“Over-tourism and the golden visa have attracted foreign investors and stimulated demand while Greek incomes are stagnating,” he added.

“Owners prefer to rent or sell their apartments in Athens at a high price and settle in the outskirts.”

In the face of growing discontent, the government has tightened its golden visa rules, increasing the minimum investment required from 250,000 to 800,000 euros, and setting limits on short-term rentals.

But the gentrification of certain central Athens neighbourhoods where a new metro line is under construction has already forced out some owners and migrant tenants from old apartments, say real estate experts.

Dimos Dimakopoulos, a 31-year-old engineer, said he was searching for an apartment for him, his wife and son. But he said: “Rents have almost doubled since 2022, rising to more than 650 euros now.”

The housing crisis was casting a wide net, said Maloutas. It “affects students, young professionals, elderly people and refugees”.

Georgia Stratigakou, 73, bought an 80-square-metre apartment in Athens with a mortgage in the 1980s.

Now she fears she will lose it.

“With my meagre pension, it’s difficult to pay taxes and bills” which continue to increase, she said.

hec/jph/jj