Almost one in three Greeks (28.5 %) now spend at least 40 % of their disposable income on housing, Eurostat’s 2023 survey shows. Denmark is a distant second at 15.4 %, while Cyprus, Albania and Slovenia are all below 4 %.
Greece’s once-celebrated home-ownership rate has dropped to 69.7 % (from 75.1 % in 2015), barely matching the EU average. Property values keep climbing: Bank of Greece data show another 7.9 % jump in 2024, the 28th straight quarter of increases. Rents have risen just as fast, with the national index leaping from 99.9 in early 2024 to 109.7 this spring.
The central bank of Greece warns prices will rise again in 2025—though more slowly—and urges urgent action. As result the Greek government has outlined a two-phase response including extending tax deductions, exemptions and more.
In late May the Greek Parliament is expected to vote on extending the €16,000, five-year renovation tax deduction through 2026, keeping the incentive in place for summer projects.
Meanwhile and in early September at the annual Thessaloniki International Fair, the Greek Prime Minister is expected to unveil a broader package including:
• reallocation of EU-funded ESPA 2021-27 money to double affordable-housing spending
• new rent-tax brackets, with the entry rate possibly cut from 15 % to about 6 % on the first €5,000
• an expanded, bank-supported repair-loan scheme to bring empty flats back to market
• likely extensions of the zero VAT rate on new builds and the ban on fresh short-term-rental permits in central Athens beyond 2025
These moves add to existing tools—a freeze on taxable property values until 2027, the “My Home 2” and “Renovate-and-Rent” programmes, and November’s debut housing allowance of up to €800 for roughly 950,000 low- and middle-income tenants.
