The immediate start of the program for the renovation of nearly 12,500 closed residences, which will be exclusively available for long-term leasing, was announced by the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family, Sofia Zacharaki, from the parliamentary podium.

The regulation is included in the draft law of the Ministry of Finance for the exploitation of public property in coastal areas, which is being voted on today, and as Ms. Zacharaki informed after its approval, which will allow the immediate start of the program, the relevant Ministerial Decision will be issued, and the application platform will be put into operation.

The provision provides for the possibility of an advance payment of part of the subsidy to the beneficiaries of the program and the participation in the program of owners or lessors with a percentage of ownership equal to 50%.

Immediately after the vote, the transfer of the program’s resources from the National Economy to the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family will take place. In addition  in collaboration with the General Secretariat of Public Administration, so that within the next week and after the transfer of resources, the relevant Ministerial Decision is approved by the Board of Directors and published. The day the Ministerial Decision is published, the platform for applications will open on gov.gr.

The budget of this program is 50 million euros – and it provides for a subsidy of 40% of the renovation up to the amount of 10,000 euros.

For housing policy programs, a total of 2.3 billion euros are available, as the Minister mentioned.

“To make the program more attractive, it is provided that an advance payment of about half of this 40% subsidy on the final amount of the renovation, which can reach 10,000 euros, emphasized Ms. Zacharaki and clarified that an improvement that comes – besides the possibility of all other upgrades, and especially energy upgrades – also provides for the possibility of functional upgrades of the houses under renovation.

“The aim of all these vacant apartments, which are hundreds of thousands, is to give an incentive to the owners to be able to open some of them, which have been declared vacant in the last three years in form E2,” explained the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family. She added that in our country, where rents are also rising, young people and new families, like everyone else, must have choices, and the government’s ultimate goal is to expand the housing stock and combat the rise in rents.

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Ms. Zacharaki also emphasized that this specific program is not the only measure, but it is part of a structured housing policy, which was presented to the Parliament by the Prime Minister, responding to a parliamentary question from the president of PASOK. As part of the overall policy to alleviate the housing problem, the responsible minister mentioned that 2.3 billion euros are available for housing programs. As she already informed about the “My Home” program, 4,200 loans have been disbursed, and by the end of the year, they will reach 9,800, while the renovation program for closed houses will now also start, and the Social Dividend program will begin.

Increase in childbirth allowance

The Minister also referred to the regulation for increasing childbirth allowance gradually from 400 to 1,500 euros depending on the number of children, with retroactive effect for births in 2023.

Commenting on the statements of representatives of parties that this measure cannot address the demographic problem, Ms. Zacharaki replied that no one claimed such a thing except from the very beginning, with the Minister of Finance, we mentioned that it is a handling of the very high expenses that a family has with the arrival of a baby.

“I remind you that this measure did not exist. The allowance was 2,000 euros and is significantly increased today because we see all these imported inflationary trends and we must provide strong tools,” she emphasized and informed that all other amounts will be provided through the Action Plan for Demographics, which is currently being prepared.

“We will ask for the opinions of all parties, and there will also be an expanded consultation with society, with the regions, and the municipalities so that we have as much participation as possible in an issue that is a national threat and national challenge when we see demographic trends in all regions,” she said, announcing the start of a dialogue on addressing the demographic problem.