The issue with rents
In the interview with all the material that Prime Minister Mitsotakis gave on Thursday on Sky Radio, he said that inflation seems to have stabilized, « but there is an issue in rent ».
It exists, and the government is stepping up by increasing demand instead of increasing the supply of housing. According to market players, the « My Home » program resulted in the first quarter of 2025 to rise by at least 10%-15%. The return of a rent at the end of November (up to 800 euros, plus 50 euros for each dependent child) will be operating in the same direction.
The government’s expectation that the measure provides incentive to declare to the tax office the real rental fee ignores the incentive of the owners to increase the rent to offset the increased tax liability. Only if rent tax is lightened at the same time, ideally with a 20%flat rate, can rents be reduced to the real estate.
Such a measure may increase public revenue from rents of more than 12,000 a year, which is currently taxed at 35%-45%, although they are not eligible for a rent. Owners of expensive properties will be motivated to declare the actual rental price in order to avoid cash -changing hands at the start of three -year lease and becomes more difficult to manage.
In the same interview, the prime minister said that « we need to find ways to bring homes to the market again. » Indeed, thousands of properties in the hands of service management companies (SERVICERS) and public bodies remain closed. As the Bank of Greece’s recent report on financial stability points out, a deterrent to the effective management of private debt are the delays recorded in the completion of judicial actions moving in cases where other available alternatives have been exhausted. Regarding public real estate belonging to the ERDF, government statements for their use remain intentions.
Another way to get closed houses on the market would be to facilitate the eviction of non-renting tenants, accelerating the proceedings at the Court of First Instance so that the lease and payment order (the first step to eviction) be issued within 3-4 weeks and not 3-4 months. If the tenant exercises opposition or interim measures, the procedure may take more than a year. In cases where the tenant stays on the property after the expiry of the contract, in order to retrieve the property, the owner must file a lawsuit that may take years to finalize. Shorter procedure should be provided. There are owners who keep their property closed for all the above reasons, but this does not seem to concern the government.
