Μake us preferred on Google “Maricarmen in Greece: Evictions of people with disabilities are an everyday occurrence” is the title of the latest press release issued by the National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities (ESAmeA), drawing attention to the heightened housing vulnerability of people with disabilities compared with the general population.
The title refers to the widely reported case of Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman with a disability in Madrid who faced eviction. Her case sparked a mass solidarity movement and large demonstrations, which gradually led Pedro Sánchez’s government to call early elections for November. Maricarmen died yesterday in a Madrid hospital.
Speaking a few days ago at To Vima’s conference, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sánchez’s government had “completely failed to address this crisis and collapsed.” He omitted, however, that the elections were called after lawmakers from New Democracy’s sister party and the far right voted against the government’s proposal to freeze evictions until 2030.
Even this rather selective political claim by the Greek prime minister pales beside the central issue raised in ESAmeA’s press release: For Greece’s disability movement, “Maricarmen’s story is not simply a distant story concerning another country. It is a reality experienced daily by people with disabilities, chronic and/or rare conditions, and their families.”
Evictions and Foreclosure Auctions
The press release cites specific cases of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses who have approached ESAmeA’s “We Claim Together” support service for help with housing issues.
“A person with cancer in Athens who lives alone risked losing their primary and only home at auction over a credit card debt with an original principal of €800. Following intervention by ESAmeA and the ‘We Claim Together’ service, the auction was canceled and the person remained in their home,” the press release states.
“A person with a disability from Tripoli lost their home at auction because of debts, and the property was purchased by an investment fund. Following intervention by ESAmeA and the ‘We Claim Together’ service, the fund allowed the person to remain in the home.”
ESAmeA says dozens of people have sought help through its support service, from “Evia, Halkidiki, Attica, Crete … across the country,” facing the daily risk of ending up on the street.
Troubling Statistics
A broader picture and fuller documentation of the problem are provided by ESAmeA’s Disability Observatory statistical bulletin, “Housing Poverty and Disability,” published on Sept. 23.
According to the researchers, “whatever growth has taken place in the post-bailout era appears to be widening inequalities at the expense of people with disabilities,” while “half of working-age citizens with severe disabilities remain at risk of poverty and social exclusion.”
These findings translate into specific figures. The housing cost overburden rate for people with disabilities is 34.3%, almost 25 percentage points above the weighted EU average of 9.9%. The proportion who fell behind on rent or mortgage payments during the previous 12 months is 47.7%, an increase of 16% compared with 2021.
Some 44.6% of people with disabilities have overdue debts, compared with a European average of 10.1%. Indicators of energy poverty are equally discouraging: 25.2% cannot adequately heat their homes, while 47% say they have not carried out necessary energy efficiency improvements.
Finally, in 2025, 70.5% had not made necessary accessibility adaptations to their homes. The corresponding figure in 2021 was 58%.
Multiple Challenges
“Rent that may be manageable for a household without a person with a disability can be completely unaffordable for a household with a lower income and, at the same time, greater needs and expenses precisely because of disability,” ESAmeA’s press release states.
Speaking to in.gr, ESAmeA Secretary-General Vasilis Koutsianos explains that these “greater needs” may include an accessible home or a parking space, requirements that inevitably limit the available options.
The problem, however, extends further. ESAmeA describes “citizens with disabilities who lose their homes following foreclosure auctions. Families with children with disabilities who face eviction. People with disabilities forced to seek new housing because of substantial rent increases, without knowing whether they will find a home that is both affordable and accessible, as there is no protection.”
Koutsianos believes there is no housing policy specifically addressing people with disabilities, at least in terms of implemented measures rather than announcements. He and the confederation are calling for an increase in housing allowances, protections for primary residences, social housing and targeted measures for people with disabilities in out-of-court debt settlements, as debt-servicing costs for this group are generally higher.
One of the central problems with out-of-court settlements is that installments are calculated using a property’s market value rather than its assessed value for tax purposes. This burdens most borrowers who have found themselves at the mercy of banks, loan servicers and investment funds, but it is even more severe for people with disabilities and their families.
ESAmeA submitted its proposals during the summer consultation on the national housing strategy, as well as through letters to the prime minister’s office, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family.
The exact number of people with disabilities facing immediate and urgent consequences from the various aspects of the housing crisis cannot be calculated precisely. Koutsianos believes, however, that the dozens who have sought ESAmeA’s support represent only part of the overall problem.
As he tells in.gr, even he struggled considerably to find an accessible home when he moved from Kozani to Athens in 2020. The situation is believed to have deteriorated significantly since then.
Main image: The late Theofilos Tzochounidis in 2023, during one of the attempts to evict him from his home in Halkidiki.
Source: In.gr
