The 14 new measures in the government’s housing strategy reveal the “road map” for upcoming interventions in the housing market, as well as an initial picture of what the new TIF package for property owners and the housing sector could include.

The measures will not all be implemented at once. Rather, they constitute the road map that housing policy will follow over the coming years, with the first steps scheduled through 2027 and the broader planning gradually extending to 2030.

The National Housing Policy Strategy 2026–2035 has now been approved by the Government Housing Policy Committee and constitutes the official 10-year plan for addressing the housing problem. It includes a total of 50 measures with a budget of more than €6.5 billion. Of these, 36 have already been launched or are being implemented, while 14 are new proposed interventions.

On the table are measures ranging from a new “My Home” model and cheaper mortgages to tax incentives for building affordable housing, a new Golden Visa category linked to long-term rentals, housing solutions for students and public-sector employees on the islands, and a new mechanism for monitoring property prices.

The direction is clear: the emphasis is shifting not only toward supporting people who want to buy a home, but also toward increasing the supply of housing, so that more properties return to the long-term rental market and a new stock of affordable homes is created.

The 14 measures

1. Faster building permits with AI

The first intervention concerns modernizing the building-permit system, with the aim of reducing delays that can currently hold back new construction and investment.

The plan calls for further digitization, better use of the e-Άδειες system and the Unified Digital Map, interconnection of information systems, and automated checks. The use of artificial intelligence is also being considered to verify supporting documents and quickly identify missing information in applications.

2. Platform for students looking for housing and roommates

The high cost of student rents is bringing shared housing into the picture. A dedicated digital platform is planned through which students will be able to search not only for housing but also for a roommate, allowing them to share rent and other expenses.

Landlords will be able to list properties suitable for shared accommodation, while linking the platform to the student housing allowance is also being considered. Of particular importance is a provision for state guarantees to landlords, intended to reduce the risk from unpaid rent or property damage.

3. Housing for doctors and teachers on the islands

A separate platform is being planned to address an increasingly serious problem: housing public-sector employees on islands and in tourist areas.

Available properties and housing needs will be recorded so that supply and demand can be matched. The measure mainly concerns teachers, doctors, nurses and other public employees who are required to serve in areas where long-term rental housing is scarce or rents are prohibitively expensive.

4. Cheaper financing to build affordable homes

Low-interest loans, state guarantees and interest-rate subsidies could be used to reduce the financing cost of private investment in social and affordable housing.

In return, homes created with the help of these instruments would not simply be offered at free-market prices; part of them would have to be made available under social or affordable-housing terms.

5. Public land for affordable homes on the islands

The plan also includes using unused public land on islands where the housing problem has become particularly severe.

Private developers could undertake housing projects on public land, provided that part of the properties is offered for a specified period at social or affordable rents.

6. A new “OEK” for housing

The plan calls for the creation of a Unified Housing Policy Agency, providing a central mechanism to collect market data, monitor the implementation of programs, and coordinate ministries, municipalities and other bodies.

The Strategy itself links its creation to the institutional gap left by the abolition of the Workers’ Housing Organization (OEK) in 2012. Funding of €3 million through the 2021–2027 EU Structural Funds (ESPA) is envisaged for its creation and operation.

7. Municipalities as “brokers” for social rentals

Social Rental Offices would act as intermediaries between property owners who have homes available and households in need of affordable housing.

They would record available properties, support the rental process and monitor leases, effectively creating an organized local market for social rentals. Approximately €6.5 million is budgeted for developing the network.

8. New fund for social housing

A specialized Trust Fund for Social and Affordable Housing is planned.

Its initial capital is provisionally estimated at €20–25 million, with the aim of subsequently mobilizing much larger amounts of public, European and private capital. The mechanism is intended to be revolving, meaning that revenues would return to the fund and finance additional housing.

9. More construction in exchange for affordable housing

One of the more interesting interventions involves providing planning and zoning incentives to private investors.

The idea is that an investor could receive specific planning benefits or other incentives, provided that part of the resulting benefit is returned to society in the form of affordable or social housing.

The model could apply both to new developments and to large inactive or underutilized properties within cities.

10. New Golden Visa with homes required to be rented out

The Golden Visa could acquire a new special category with a different philosophy from the current system.

A foreign investor could acquire a portfolio of more than one property, but would be required to make those properties available exclusively for long-term rental for a specified period.

Short-term rentals would not be permitted, and a mechanism would monitor how the properties are used. The aim is for capital entering through the Golden Visa program to add housing to the long-term rental market rather than remove it from the market.

11. New mechanism to combat homelessness

A more organized system would be created to identify people experiencing housing insecurity at an early stage and monitor the assistance they receive.

The plan includes an information system, evaluation of existing services, staff training and better links between beneficiaries and social services. The intervention has an estimated budget of approximately €1.81 million.

12. New “My Home” program with cheaper mortgages

This is one of the measures likely to attract the greatest interest from households.

The proposal considers a more permanent mechanism to support first-time home purchases, drawing on the French Prêt à Taux Zéro (PTZ) model.

The new approach would allow tax incentives to be provided to banks so that they can offer eligible borrowers lower-interest mortgages, rather than relying exclusively on direct state interest-rate subsidies.

The instrument could potentially be used not only to purchase a first home but also to complete construction on privately owned land. It could also be combined with the Young People’s Housing Account and energy upgrades to the property.

Estimates put the potential number of new beneficiaries at approximately 16,000.

13. Reduced VAT and tax incentives for social housing

On the tax side, the government is considering a reduced VAT rate for the construction of social and affordable housing.

This would not be a across-the-board VAT reduction for every newly built home, but a targeted incentive for construction projects committed to affordable housing.

European examples are being examined, including Portugal, where a 6% rate applies, and France, where a 10% rate applies to certain categories of social housing.

The possibility of combining reduced VAT with other tax incentives is also being left open, including, for example, exemptions from ENFIA (the Greek property tax), to make the creation of affordable housing more attractive to private investors.

14. New index showing how much homes actually cost

The final—and potentially crucial—tool is a National Property Price Index, which would collect data from property transactions, leases, bank valuations, tax records and other sources.

The goal is for the state, property owners and tenants to have a clearer picture of actual prices by area and property category.

The concept draws on European transparency tools such as Germany’s Mietspiegel.

The creation of the index does not mean that rent controls are coming. The Strategy explicitly states that, at this stage, there is no plan for administrative regulation or a ceiling on rents. Instead, the aim is to create a reliable tool for monitoring the housing market.