Greece's €500m Home Renovation Grant: Who Qualifies and What It Pays

18 hours ago

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Greece has published the full rulebook for Ανακαίνιση Κατοικίας (Home Renovation), a new €500 million program that will cover between 70% and 95% of the cost of renovating older homes, up to €36,000 per home. The implementation guide, released on October 20, 2026, sets out who can apply, which works are covered, and the order in which applications will open.

An empty old house in Athens with closed wooden shutters, peeling plaster and a tiled roof edged with terracotta balusters

Applications are not open yet. In their joint announcement, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family stressed that publishing the guide “does not mark the start of applications” and said the dates for each phase will be announced later.

What is already running is the first step: the eligibility certificate (Βεβαίωση Επιλεξιμότητας), which owners request for a specific property through the gov.gr eligibility certificate service. Without it, no funding application can be filed.

The program is funded by the EU through ESPA 2021 to 2027, and its stated aim is to bring empty homes back into use and to upgrade old homes that families already live in. That is why closed homes get priority: the application platform will open for them first.

How much the grant pays

The base rate is 80% of eligible costs for households in income category I and 70% for income category II. Each rate rises by five percentage points for a home in a mountain or island area, for single parents with sole custody or families with three or more children, and for owners or dependants with a disability when the home is owner-occupied. The increases add up, but the total cannot pass 95% for category I or 85% for category II.

The subsidy for the works is capped at €300 per square metre of eligible floor space and at €36,000 per application, VAT included. On top of that, up to €2,500 covers 100% of support costs: the two energy performance certificates, the building's electronic identity (Ηλεκτρονική Ταυτότητα Κτιρίου), a technical adviser, the building inspector and any permits or studies. Owners pay their own share from their own funds, and an advance of 60% of the grant is available once part of that share has moved through a bank.

Covered works include new kitchens and bathrooms, floors, front and interior doors, electrical and plumbing systems, plaster, tiles, painting and interior layout changes. Energy works include new windows, insulation, heating and cooling systems and hot water. Every proposal has to combine renovation with energy work and lift the home by at least one energy class.

Which homes qualify

The home must exist legally, must not be marked for demolition, and must have a building permit issued by December 31, 1990, or an equivalent document such as a certificate that it was built before 1955. Its main floor area can be up to 120 square metres (150 for families with three or more children), and its first energy certificate must rate it C or lower. Homes listed in the short-term rental register are excluded, as are homes that joined an Exoikonomo energy program after January 1, 2020.

A “closed” home is one that stood unused through 2024 and 2025. This is checked against the records of the electricity distribution operator ΔΕΔΔΗΕ: either the power was cut at the owner's request before January 1, 2024, or the meter recorded less than 100 kWh in total over the two years, with the same low use since January 2026. The home must also have been declared vacant on the owner's E2 form for the whole of tax year 2025.

Applicants need full ownership or usufruct of at least 20% of the home, checked against their latest E9 property statement. Where there are co-owners, each must give consent through a solemn declaration, either on gov.gr or with a certified signature. Only one application is accepted per home.

Income limits

Income is taken from the tax assessment for 2025 and includes declared income, tax-exempt and separately taxed income, and any presumed-living-cost difference. The upper limits are:

Single: €18,000 (category I), €25,000 (category II)
Married or civil partners, no minor children: €25,000 / €35,000
Married or civil partners with one minor child: €30,000 / €40,000
Married or civil partners with two minor children: €35,000 / €45,000
Single parent with one minor child: €28,000 / €39,000

Each extra minor child adds €5,000 to the limit in both categories.

Applications will open in three rounds: closed homes regardless of income first, then owner-occupied homes in category I, then owner-occupied homes in category II. Within each round, applications are ranked by the time they were submitted and approved until the money runs out, so speed matters.

The conditions that come with the money

For five years after the works are finished, the home must be used as the program intends. A closed home must either become the owner's main residence or be rented out long term as a tenant's main residence. An owner-occupied home must stay owner-occupied.

Rented homes come with extra rules. The lease must be filed with the tax authority ΑΑΔΕ within eight months of completion, the rent must stay the same or lower for the first three years, and gaps between leases cannot add up to more than 11 months. Short-term rentals, business use and subletting are banned for the five years. Selling the home in that period means paying back the whole grant.

Works must be completed within 18 months of approval and no later than December 31, 2028. A second energy inspection and an on-site check by a building inspector come before the final payment.

A slow start for closed homes

Early numbers show the program is drawing far more interest from people who live in their homes than from owners of empty ones. Social Cohesion and Family Minister Domna Michailidou said about 94,000 eligibility certificates have been issued, but only around 14,000 of them concern closed homes, Kathimerini reported on October 25.

That matters because about €200 million of the budget is reserved for closed homes alone. Funds are also split by region: Attica, which has the largest stock of empty homes, shares an estimated €37.3 million pot with the South Aegean. Owners and real estate professionals have blamed problems with the certificate platform for the low take-up.

What it means for owners abroad

Many families in Greece and abroad own an older home that has stood empty for years, often a house passed down by parents or grandparents. The guide does not exclude owners who live outside Greece, but every check runs through Greek records: the 2025 Greek tax return with its E2 and E9 forms, the electricity operator's data and the property's legal status. A family home that has not yet passed into the heirs' names will not show on their E9, so it cannot be used for an application until the inheritance is settled.

The five-year use rule is the bigger question for owners who live abroad. A renovated closed home cannot serve as a holiday house. It has to become the owner's main home or be rented out long term, with the owner listed as landlord with ΑΑΔΕ and declaring the rent in Greece. Owners who file Greek taxes from abroad should check with an accountant how their income is counted for the program's limits.

How to prepare

The ministries advise owners to use the time before applications open to check their property records, collect consent from co-owners, sort out any legality or regularisation issues, and draw up the Plan of Interventions (Σχέδιο Παρεμβάσεων) with the proposed works and budget. A technical adviser is not mandatory but is recommended.

Applications will be filed only online, through a platform run by the Technical Chamber of Greece (ΤΕΕ), with no paper file. The first energy certificate and the building's electronic identity are due within three months of an application being judged eligible.

Check out how GetGreece helps families settle a property inheritance in Greece.