800,000 homes sitting empty

About 12% of the total lodging stock successful Greece, oregon some 800,000 properties crossed the country, stay bare and a fig of them could under definite conditions beryllium activated successful the conflict against the lodging crisis.

These are properties that are not vacation homes, so there is simply a anticipation for them to participate the residential supply with the close moves, according to Mando Zisopoulou, lodging argumentation manager astatine the Social Cohesion and Family Ministry.

Speaking connected Sunday astatine the Real Estate Forum successful Athens, Zisopoulou said the statistic is from a study connected nationalist lodging policy, whose findings will beryllium published successful the coming days.

“The occupation we observe from the information is that, unfortunately, astir of the bare houses are not successful areas suffering from large pressure. On the contrary, they are, [for example] successful the southeastern Aegean and the Ionian islands, while the fig of bare houses successful large cities is smaller,” said the ministry official.

Another contented concerns the conditions of those properties: “Some 22% of them were built earlier the 1960s and different third of them betwixt 1960 and 1980. In total, 80% are astatine slightest 25 years old, constructed earlier 2000,” Zisopoulou said, which entails the necessity for sizeable funds toward renovating this stock earlier utilization.

After all, this is the strategy the authorities has chosen, meaning that the measures presently connected the drafting committee purpose astatine bolstering supply done the utilization of closed houses and then astatine seeking ways for constructing caller residential buildings, arsenic Zisopoulou besides confirmed.

The ministry is readying to use National Strategic Reference Framework funds for a programme of mild renovations for the older bare properties, adding up to €500 million. “This is simply a hidden treasure, since the bare houses are galore and easier to activate compared to constructing a caller building,” Zisopoulou said.

Besides renovation, though, those properties often necessitate the colony of town readying issues oregon inheritance conflicts, noted Lena Kontogeorgou, caput of the Athens, Piraeus, Aegean and Dodecanese notaries association. “This is why the measure connected inheritances, to beryllium voted soon, could resoluteness galore existing problems,” she added.