The first family to join the “Coverage” program of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, for the free housing of vulnerable young people in private houses, with the rent paid by the State, has settled in its new home.

According to a statement from the Press Office of the Ministry of Labour, this is a single-parent family with two children, who will live in an apartment in Galatsi, which is one of the first municipalities in which the implementation of the program and the settlement of the beneficiaries began.

The “Coverage” program established by Law 5006/2022 “My Home – Housing policy for young people, utilization of public property for social housing and other provisions”, is aimed at young people aged 25-39 who are beneficiaries of the Minimum Guaranteed Income and do not own a home. The goal in this phase is to house 3,000 beneficiaries with the utilization of at least 1,000 houses.

Through the program, the State covers for three years the cost of renting private houses allocated to host asylum seekers under the “ESTIA” programme, which ended in December.

The beneficiaries of the program receive plus moving expenses of the household and transportation of their household goods, while on the other hand the owners, in addition to the guaranteed rent, which cannot exceed the rent they received through “ESTIA” plus the inflation of 2022, are also covered for any damages found in the properties during the lease.

The owners of these houses are invited by the Municipalities to declare their interest in joining the new “Coverage” program, in order for the available houses to be made available to the beneficiaries who will also be invited to submit applications to the Municipalities.

Based on the data so far:

  • 46 Municipalities from all over the country have declared participation in the “Coverage” program (which includes the Municipalities of Athens and Thessaloniki).
  • Contracts have been signed with four Municipalities (Neapolis Sykeon, Galatsiou, Chalkideon and Tripoli). Another three contracts have been sent to the Court of Auditors for pre-contractual review and ten are in the signature stage. In the immediate future and after the decisions have been taken by the Municipal Councils, the contracts will be signed with the other Municipalities that have expressed interest in participating.
  • There has been interest from property owners and there are 685 available apartments that participated in the ESTIA 2021 and ESTIA II programs.

The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Kostis Hatzidakis, said: “After the “My Home” program for providing interest-free or low-interest mortgage loans to young people for the acquisition of a private residence, for which the submission of applications to the banks has already begun, today the implementation of the “Coverage” program that ensures free housing for vulnerable young people by renting private homes.

The restart of the state’s housing policy is implemented with specific actions that first of all support the young, but also the vulnerable. The government is proceeding with the implementation of all the actions established by law 5006/2022, with a budget of 1.74 billion euros, through which more than 137,000 citizens benefit.”

According to the provisions of the KYA which established the procedures for the implementation of the program, those interested who submit applications for participation are classified by Municipality with scoring according to the following criteria: families with many children, families with three children, people with a disability of over 67%, households under eviction from rented accommodation, single-parent families, families with one or two children, unemployed persons registered in DYPA, individuals or families accommodated in shelters for female victims of violence and individuals or families accommodated as members of Minimum Guaranteed Income households. If a family gathers more than one criteria, the points are added up (except for the criteria for many children / three children / families with 1 or 2 children).

After ranking the households in a priority list based on the points they collect, the Municipalities invite the beneficiaries to choose from the list of available houses those that meet their needs according to the composition of the household and its preference for the area of ​​the Municipality where the property is located. Each household chooses up to three available properties, among which it is asked to choose the appropriate one to rent.

The program is implemented by the General Secretariat of Social Solidarity & Combating Poverty of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs with funding from DYPA.