Why 34% of Greece homes are empty? “They have been built to old building regulations, without insulation or energy efficiency, and show a lack of maintenance. A number of owners consider their renovation unprofitable, so they prefer to leave them closed,” says Blupeak founder Vasilis Iliopoulos. Below more information via Nikos Roussanoglou from Ekathimerini.com.
Greece’s outdated and abandoned housing stock and frequent claims and disputes between heirs largely explain the very high percentage of empty houses, aggravating the country’s housing problem.
According to an analysis by real estate research company Blupeak Estate Analytics (using ELSTAT data from the 2021 building census), it is estimated that approximately one in three homes nationwide, or 2.2 million out of a total of 6.5 million homes, is unoccupied. Essentially, 34% of the country’s homes are empty – i.e. more than double compared to many EU countries, where this ranges between 10% and 15%.
The phenomenon is mainly found in five regions: Attica, where 526,000 empty houses are recorded, Central Macedonia (363,000), the Peloponnese (209,000), Western Greece (155,000) and Thessaly (133,000). In total, almost six out of 10 empty homes in the country are located in these five regions.
Based on Blupeak’s analysis, “this geographical concentration reflects a deep inequality: While there is demand and need, supply remains inactive.” Data per region show that in Central Macedonia one in three homes is closed (33%), while in Attica almost one in four homes is empty (24.3%).
In addition to holiday homes used only for a few weeks a year, a large category of empty houses includes old residences that attract neither tenants nor buyers. According to Blupeak, there are many reasons: their location in areas with declining demand, their image of abandonment, and the high cost of renovation in relation to their performance. That is because a significant percentage of the total housing stock is old: About 3 million houses were built between 1961 and 1980, while an additional 1.6 million houses were built in the 1980s and another 1.1 million date from 1946-1960. Therefore, 5.7 million houses, or 87.5%, are over 30 years old.
