Michailidou: Housing crisis the result of an 'asymmetry of supply and demand'
Attending a discussion on Greece's growing housing crisis held at the Star Forum in Lamia on Friday, Social Cohesion and Family Minister Domna Michailidou outlined a raft of 43 government measures with a combined budget of seven billion euros that have been rolled out to address this problem, which she described as an "asymmetry of supply and demand".
Attending a discussion on Greece's growing housing crisis held at the Star Forum in Lamia on Friday, Social Cohesion and Family Minister Domna Michailidou outlined a raft of 43 government measures with a combined budget of seven billion euros that have been rolled out to address this problem, which she described as an "asymmetry of supply and demand".
She listed rent subsidies, social housing for land programmes, use of decommissioned army bases and the 'Renovate-Rent' programs as the "spearhead" of the government's efforts to deal with a problem that she stressed did not affect Greece alone, emerging as an international and European problem also linked to demographic issues. She attributed the rise in demand for housing to factors such as an increase in single-parent households, the fact that Greece was increasingly attractive to foreign investors, digital nomads and tourists, the growth of the short-stay lease market and Golden Visa programs. The crucial issue, she claimed, was the difficulty of increasing supply, given the "collapse" of construction during the economic crisis and structural issues peculiar to the Greek market, such as the high demand for Attica and town planning restrictions.
Other participants in the discussion, entitled "The housing crisis is deepening in Greece: Real causes and practical solutions", included main opposition PASOK-KINAL MP Dimitris Mantzos, the governor of the Central Greece region Fanis Spanos and Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) General Director Nikos Vettas.
