The program platform has opened “Renovating – Renting”. The program concerns subsidizing the renovation or repair of vacant houses and apartments for the purpose of renting them out, and covers 40% of the costs.

Beneficiaries can submit their application through the Program platform in the Digital Portal https://www.gov.gr/ipiresies/periousia-kai-phorologia/epidoteseis-politon/anakainizo-noikiazo.

The program is funded by the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family with an amount of 50,000,000 euros, and concerns renovations and repairs, in approximately 12,500 vacant homes with the intention of being then made available for long-term leases.

The maximum amount of the subsidy will amount to 4,000 euros with the possibility of an advance payment of 50% and for the first time the subsidized costs concern functional repairs and renovation works.

After the completion of the renovation, the property must be rented out for at least three years in private. The program will be run with the support and supervision of the Public Employment Service (DYPA).

Who are beneficiaries?

Natural persons, owners or beneficiaries of real estate with residential use, for one (1) real estate with residential use, can be included in the program, as long as the following five conditions are met:

  1. The Beneficiaries have full ownership or usufruct of the property in a percentage equal to or greater than 50%.
  2. The property (apartment or detached house) has an area of ​​main areas up to 100 sq.m. and is located in a residential area (i.e. within a general urban plan or within an approved landscape plan or within settlement boundaries or within a settlement zone where special building conditions exist).
  3. The Beneficiaries have an annual family taxable income, real or presumed, that does not exceed €40,000 and have real estate, the total value of which does not exceed the amount of €300,000. Annual family income means the total annual taxable, real or presumed, as well as the exempt or taxed in a special way income of spouses or cohabiting partners and protected children.
  4. The property has not been declared as a first residence, has not been declared as rented and is declared as vacant on the E2 form accompanying the income tax return of the last 3 years.
  5. Beneficiaries have not received a subsidy for an energy saving or renovation program in their property in the last 5 years and have not joined subsidized energy saving programs for any of their properties, i.e. from 1.1.2019 onwards.

Eligible costs for work, materials, permits

Indicative of the costs may be included the work for bathroom, kitchen renovation, replacement of entrance door and interior doors, replacement of floors, replacement or repair of electrical and plumbing installations, structural elements, coatings, tiles, coloring and other similar works. Also provided are the costs for the purchase of the necessary materials, costs for any required IKA insurance contributions for the works and engineer costs for any issuance of permits, approvals or preparation of studies.

The application process

Most application fields are pre-populated via interoperability from the Public Sector bodies’ electronic databases. The beneficiary selects or fills in all the remaining blank fields.

On the platform, the beneficiaries follow the following steps:

  • They fill in their personal passwords on Taxisnet
  • They choose from their displayed properties, the one they wish to renovate and then rent out.
  • If for the same selected property, there are other owners / beneficiaries, fill in the other relevant Property Identification Numbers (ATAK).
  • They complete the application, in accordance with the instructions of the Platform, and complete the submission of the Application by submitting the necessary Responsible Declarations and Authorizations provided by the relevant FSA for their participation in the Program.

The data that the beneficiary is required to know and submit when submitting the Application are indicative:

  • The ATAK/s of the property, the inclusion of which is sought
  • the budgeted amount of the total renovation expense without further supporting documents
  • contact information (email address and mobile phone number)
  • an active payment account number (IBAN) of a payment service provider (P.Y.P.) operating in Greece, of which he is a beneficiary or co-beneficiary.

Through the platform, beneficiaries will have the opportunity to monitor the progress of their application and grant.

Useful Information about the Program

  • If any mandatory field of the application concerning the selected property (such as the Electricity Supply Number) does not appear pre-filled, the applicant corrects the deficiency to the competent Authority (e.g. AADE) and then re-enters the special application of the Program for the submission of the Application.
  • Eligibility conditions are checked at the time of submission of the application either through interoperability with the electronic databases of the Public Sector bodies or by presenting to DYPA the supporting documents that may be requested.
  • The applicant is informed of the approval of his application and his inclusion in the Program or of the rejection of his application for the selected property, with an immediate and automatic issuance of an approving or rejecting decision.
  • In case of a negative decision, the applicant can submit an objection within 10 days according to the instructions of the Platform.
  • If neither an approval nor a rejection decision appears, the application is being processed by the relevant DYPA Directorate, in which case the applicant will receive a personalized email message.
  • The advance is paid directly to the account of the beneficiary and from the date of payment of the advance, the beneficiary can proceed with the renovation or repair costs.
  • The expenses must be paid exclusively and only electronically, with one or more debit, credit and/or prepaid payment cards, which have been issued or will be issued to the A.F.M. of the beneficiary from the P.Y.P., where the beneficiary maintains the IVAN, which he declared in his application.
  • Sanctions are provided for cases where the beneficiary does not comply with the Program regulations or does not provide the required supporting documents. Sanctions include revocation and refund of part or all of the subsidy and/or advance payment and disenrollment from the Program.

You can find information on all the actions of the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family on the website https://minscfa.gov.gr/ and of DYPA on the website www.dypa.gov.gr.

THE Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Sofia Zaharakis stated in this regard:

“Quality yet affordable housing is what thousands of young people, couples and families are looking for. One of the main reasons for the increase in rents is the fact that tens of thousands of houses and apartments remain closed because they are old and their owners do not have the ability to make them functional. We are coming to subsidize these renovations and add another “weapon” to our housing policy and the battle to lower rent prices.”

“The relaunch of the housing policy continues – after the successful ‘My Home’ mortgage program – with the new action aimed at increasing the availability of properties for rent. DYPA continues to invest in policies to address the housing problem, taking initiatives, activating new tools, entering into partnerships and utilizing available resources” said DYPA Governor Spyros Protopsaltis.