Financial Times: Cheap loans – The opportunity for young Greeks to own their own home

A Financial Times article talks about the difficulty young Greeks face in buying their own home and how this situation is expected to change thanks to the €1.75 billion housing package announced by the Greek government which will give thousands of young people access to extremely low interest loans to finance their home purchase.

It is the first time, in many years, that young people are considering the possibility of buying, something that until now seemed unthinkable. According to a poll by Eteron, an Institute for Research and Social Change, 47.9% of citizens between the ages of 18 and 44 struggle or are unable to pay their rent.

For this reason, the issue of housing has become the priority of the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Thus, interest-free or low-interest housing loans will be given for 10,000 young people or young couples from 25 to 39 years of age, which will be co-financed by the state. This means that the loan in the first phase will have an interest rate of around 1%.

According to the Minister of State Akis Skertsos, who designed the program in question, “in reality housing costs take up a large part of the income. This was not the case in the past. That’s why we had to create different tools to meet these different needs.” Unfortunately, the percentage of Greeks who spend more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs exceeds the European average.

A part of the funds will also be used to renovate apartments for students and people with low income. Meanwhile, the government has announced plans to move civil servants from its 177 offices in central Athens to the suburbs over the next five years to free up space in the city centre.

The fact that money will be given to renovate the houses means that an incentive will be given to upgrade the “aging” real estate market. In fact, Mr. Skertsos said that if there is a lot of interest in the program then the state will double the funding. It is expected that the relevant legislation will be passed by the end of the year and then the applications from the banks will be opened almost immediately.

Dimitris Melahrinos, Chief Executive of Spitogatou, the largest online real estate platform, told the Financial Times that “property prices have increased by 30%, while rents by 50% in the last seven years”. In fact, platforms such as Airbnb are also responsible for these increases.
For example, in Koukaki and Plaka, two areas next to the Acropolis, old buildings have been renovated and turned into boutique hotels, while their former occupants – who were students and young couples – have now been replaced by tourists.

Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.