Greek municipalities urged to use vacant homes as city housing strain reaches 29%

Nearly three in ten people living in Greek cities were in households whose total housing costs exceeded 40% of disposable income in 2024. Eurostat put the share at 29%, the highest in the EU on this measure, compared with almost 10% for EU city residents overall. The figure is a housing-cost overburden rate, not a measure of the average share of income spent on rent.

A study presented by BluPeak Estate Analytics and covered by Greek media on 7 October 2026 argues that municipalities should play a larger role in affordable housing. Its proposals include mapping publicly owned property, identifying empty homes suitable for renovation, negotiating social leases and arranging accommodation for essential workers. The study cites pilot and municipal examples in Athens, Thessaloniki, Chalki and other locations, while distinguishing plans from completed homes.

The suggested timetable is ambitious but remains a proposal. It calls for a municipal housing profile and property register within six months, renovation and temporary rental solutions over six to eighteen months, and a longer two-to-five-year effort to develop permanent affordable stock. None of those time horizons is evidence that a nationwide programme has been approved or funded. Municipal legal powers, financing and implementation capacity would determine what can actually be delivered.

Recent official spending data add another perspective. ELSTAT’s Household Budget Survey for 2025 found that renters allocated an average 17.3% of total monthly expenditure to rent, while the lowest-spending fifth of households devoted 54.4% of their budgets to food and housing together. These expenditure shares use a different denominator from Eurostat’s overburden measure and must not be compared directly. For renters and investors, the practical questions are how much suitable housing reaches the market, where it is located and under what eligibility and rental terms.