Housing: Five measures to put more homes on the market

The Greek government plans to extend tax incentives aimed at bringing more homes onto the market and slowing increases in housing prices and rents.

The package includes a third cycle of the “My Home” programme, scheduled to open in January 2027 with broader eligibility criteria. It also extends a three-year income-tax exemption for owners who reopen vacant homes and offer them for long-term rental.

Tax incentives for renovations will continue, including a deduction of up to €16,000 over five years for building upgrades. The exemption from 24% VAT on new construction will also remain in place, measures intended to encourage both the use of existing housing stock and new building.

Restrictions on new short-term rentals will remain throughout 2027 in Athens’s three municipal districts and in Thessaloniki’s first municipal district. The government is also expanding the areas covered by the ENFIA property-tax exemption. The population threshold will rise from 1,500 to 2,000 residents, and to 2,200 in Western Macedonia. The change will add 131 settlements and about 62,000 property owners to the exemption, bringing the total number of covered settlements to 12,855.

The package also raises taxes on home purchases by citizens of countries outside the European Union. From Jan. 1, 2027, the transfer tax on those transactions will rise from 3% to 15%. The increase applies only to homes, not commercial property, plots of land or other property categories.