In a radio interview, the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family, Sofia Zaharaki, referred to the new national housing strategy that is being prepared and will be submitted to the European Commission in the next period.

The minister announced that the MLA for the “My Home II” program will be issued in the coming days so that within the first 15 days of January 2025 those interested can submit to the banks the applications for the 20,000 subsidized by the state, housing loans.

She clarified: “My House II” is a joint program that we will implement with the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Papathanasis and the Development Bank and will offer 20,000 cheap subsidized loans to new couples and families. Interested parties are given the opportunity to acquire a house worth 250,000 euros and the loan from the bank reaches up to the amount of 190,000 euros. In the new program, an increased interest rate subsidy is provided for those with three and many children. That is, the state comes and covers 3/4 of the interest rate, leaving only 1/4 to be paid by the beneficiary with three or many children. Two very important changes in relation to “My House I” have also been made at the suggestion of the Prime Minister. The income that is counted is from the last three years and not just the previous year, while there is no strict time limit for presenting a specific apartment to the bank. Let me also remind you that we raised the age limit from the previous 39 years to 50 years in order to cover the generation that did not have the opportunity to buy a home due to the crisis”.

Ms. Zaharakis also referred to the large energy upgrading program “Energy upgrading my house” with a total budget of 400 million. euros that will “run” from the beginning of the year, without an income criterion but also in the social housing programs that YKOISO is already implementing in cooperation with the Municipalities and also with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

Regarding the “Social Compensation” program that aims to create a significant stock of modern social housing, the minister noted that the first tender will be held next year for public properties.

As underlined by Ms. Zaharakis, “the first tender for public state plots where apartment buildings will be built and a part of these apartments will be given with social rent and the rest with normal market prices, will start next year. This will give us in the coming years a stock of social apartments with social rent and at the same time more apartments in terms of supply. To start with the first competition in terms of available plots and properties, there is an estimate for the possibility of creating 150 apartments. We collect from all over Greece the mature plots as well as the built buildings in order to give this new shape for Greece. In other words, we want a mixed form of housing with social rent and regular rent.”