Until the end of the year, the first tender for housing construction with the method of social compensation will proceed, as announced by the Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, speaking today at an event at the conference “Real Estate and Greek Economy, new roads, perspectives and opportunities ».

Responding to related questions, Mr. Hatzidakis stated that the government is open to proposals to facilitate the licensing of real estate investments, while regarding the taxation sector he reiterated that moves must be made carefully and with a view to fiscal balance.

He also cited the latest data from ELSTAT, according to which in the first quarter of the year, construction activity increased by 42% in terms of the number of building permits, by 38.3% in surface area and by 25% in volume, in compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023, noting that this increase is very significant, it is in principle positive news for the increase in real estate supply and a good development for the economy.

In particular, in relation to the housing policy, the minister emphasized that with the method of social compensation, as applied in other advanced European countries, private individuals will undertake the construction of houses on State plots for the housing of vulnerable households, beneficiaries of DYPA, etc. , alongside the construction and exploitation of commercial spaces from which they will derive income. The tenders, as he said, will proceed with the executive arm of TAIPED due to the expertise of the Fund’s project maturation unit and the first announcement will be made within the year. “These are not the old workers’ houses, but modern apartments according to European standards,” he pointed out.

Discussions are also ongoing with the European Commission regarding the continuation of the flagship initiative “My Home” for the provision of low-interest mortgages to new couples with funds from the Recovery Fund, while the competent ministry is proceeding to strengthen the incentives provided for by the “Renovate-Rent” program, which did not work as expected, in order to proceed with related investments.

“The roof problem definitely needs an overall look and not a one-sided examination of things. The solution to deal with the imbalance is to increase the supply”, underlined Mr. Hatzidakis.

In relation to the simplification of investment implementation procedures, he said that steps have been taken – especially for strategic investments there is a special “fast track” licensing – but the government is open to dialogue and specific proposals for further simplification within the framework of the Constitution.

In the field of taxation, the minister, after recalling the interventions made by the government to reduce ENFIA, tax-free parental benefits, increase the tax deduction for renovation works and the suspension of VAT on new buildings until the end of 2025, noted: “We don’t have much leeway in taxation. We must always weigh the EU’s fiscal targets as well, otherwise if we overbalance we will be back to where we were last decade and the bill will fall on all of us.” In particular on the proposal to exempt rents for vacant homes, he raised the question of whether a landlord today would prefer to lose the rental income in order not to be taxed on it.

To a question about short-term leases, he answered that in the intervention that took place in December to normalize the market, both sides were taken into account. “We have not ruled out anything in advance, we said that when the tourist season is over we will draw conclusions and after discussion we will come to additional interventions”, he emphasized.

Finally, Mr. Hatzidakis reiterated that the utilization of state property has been delayed and the initiatives will now proceed at a rapid pace, with mapping and grouping of ETAD properties, of which the most mature ones will be grouped and put in tenders for utilization in ” packages’ and not each individually. He made special reference to “XENIA”, the regeneration of which, as he pointed out, can upgrade the tourist market of specific areas, to the Tae-Kwo-Do property for which the tender will be re-announced with conditions that will make it attractive, as well as in the regeneration of TIF, which includes an exhibition space, a park and a hotel and can create new dynamics for the city.