Real Estate / The housing crisis in Greece is out of control – The responsibilities of the government

The housing crisis is getting worse and worse for the citizens in Greece, who, in addition to the general accuracy, have to face a huge cost for their residence. After all, all of Eurostat’s indicators rankhey Greece is the champion in the cost of housing, which also shows the responsibilities of the N.D. government, which has left the citizens at their mercy.

The rapid increase in rents is the main topic of discussion and reflection among all our fellow citizens, especially those who are thinking of either taking the next step in their lives by starting a family and have started the search for housing or for those whose lease contract has expired or is expected to expire in the coming months and expect to be informed of the owner’s new “requirements”. 2023 closed with a new average increase of up to 10%, while this year a new rise is already taking place. At the same time, information is coming to the public which shows the difficulties that citizens have to face every day. According to ELSTAT data on the living conditions of households, difficulties in paying rent, loan installments, fixed bills and consumer loansif the dizzying increase of 62.5%. Now in the entire population almost 1 at 2 households (47.3% rate) find it difficult to pay the rent, loan installment and bills, while in 2022 the corresponding rate was 29.1%. It is worth noting that the increase in the prices of basic goods and the cost of housing is particularly burdensome for households, which are not supported by the government, as a result of which their insecurity is magnified, as the recent survey by GSEVEE also showed.

Even the furniture cannot be changed

The poorest households face physical problems, with the percentage ftit now stands at 79.1%. In fact, 8 out of 10 poorest households declare a financial inability to cope with rent payments, loan installments and fixed bills. At the same time, the percentage of the non-poor population that has the same problem is high, as ftit is at 39.8%. That is, 4 out of 10 households with middle incomes. In fact, it is worth noting that in the non-poor population, only the financial inability to replace worn-out furniture exceeds the difficulties in paying rent, loan installments and bills (46.7% declare financial inability to replace furniture when it wears out or is damaged, compared to 39 .8% who say they have difficulties paying rent, loan installments, fixed bills and consumer loans).

Unaffordable housing costs for the poorest

The percentage of the population that declares to be burdened by housing costs amounts to 28.5%, while the percentage for the poor and for the non-poor population is 86.3% and 15.1% respectively. It should be noted that older women (+65 years old) in the poor population have the biggest problem with housing costs, as 90.1% report it.

Difficulty paying the rent for the residence or the installment of the principal residence loan concerned 43.5% of the poor population in 2023, while in the non-poor population the corresponding percentage was 21.9%. In the total population (poor and non-poor households) 1 in 4 (26%) have difficulty paying the rent for the house they live in or the loan installment for their main residence. Given that in Attica alone the average asking rental price in the first quarter of 2024 has now reached 9.6 euros per sq m, i.e. 11.6% higher than a year ago, the difficulty of paying rents continues this year as well .

“Thorn” and the accounts

At the same time, the percentage of households that in the last 12 months delayed paying bills due to financial difficulties is important. Specifically, 64.7% of the poor population declares difficulty in timely payment of fixed bills, such as those for electricity, water, natural gas, etc., while for the non-poor population this percentage amounts to 24.9% .