A central pillar of the government's holistic plan to tackle the demographic problem is the plan for young people, which includes the free (or symbolic rent) housing for young couples starting out in life.
The fertility rate has been declining for decades, falling below the 2.1 threshold needed to maintain a stable population (excluding migratory flows) in the early 1980s and is now at 1.4, with only a slight recovery prospect.
In 2030 Greece is expected to overtake Italy to become the oldest country in the EU, a fact that has mobilized the government to take actions that can support young families.
The national strategy for young people that the government is expected to «build» in the coming period, includes the axis «access to housing», concerning the allocation-rental of houses by the OAED or the EBRD to new couples.
At the same time, building plots are sought in the wider Athens area, in order to build, through a partnership between the public and private sectors, modern houses that will be made available to young couples with favourable repayment terms.
According to reports, the plan concerns:
- Granting of interest-free loans for the purchase of a first home.
- Granting of interest-free loans for the repair of the first house.
- Building new homes and making them available on specific criteria and at low cost for young people.
- Purchase of unoccupied housing through the reserve of the OAED and European funds and their subsequent allocation to low-income earners and young people.
Beneficiary applicants and their dependent family members must be without a home of their own or other assets capable of providing for themselves, taking into account their annual income and the number of family members (large families).
However, as the Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, recently mentioned at the Prodexpo (real estate) conference, the return of «social housing» (not worker-owned, just affordable) in cities is a new broader strategy in Europe and he stressed that the same should be done in Athens.
He referred to the need to attract young people to the city with a triple objective: the release of public space, the promotion of sustainable mobility and the promotion of mixed uses (not to limit Athens as a city distinguished only for tourism, ancient sites, etc.)
The Pyrkal project and the role of the OAED
Candidate properties for concession will come mainly from three «pools»:
1. From the project PYRKAL: The plan to relocate 9 ministries and their services to the former PYRKAL site in Ymittos will free up many buildings, mainly in the city centre or in the wider area of the capital.
Currently, these ministries are housed in 191 buildings, of which only 50 are owned and the rest are leased. The reuse of these spaces and the creation of new uses for the buildings could pave the way for so-called social housing.
2. From the properties under development by the EBRD, which manages a portfolio of 71,000 real estate securities of the private property of the State. A full inventory of these properties is underway to ascertain which ones can be developed and which ones can be given for a small price to young couples to support them at the start of their lives.
3. From the utilisation of the special account of the OAED (ELEKP) at the Bank of Greece, which has accumulated some €2.5-3 billion from the collection of contributions directed to the Workers' Home and Workers' Housing Organisations (formerly known as OEE and OEK).
The Workers' Housing schemes may have been suspended since 2013 with the memorandum laws, but in all these years, all private and public sector workers with permanent or fixed-term contracts continue to pay contributions, resulting in an unallocated reserve.
