Greece Will Rent 2,400 New Homes at Up to Half Off Market Rent
Renting a home in Greece has become one of the heaviest costs for many families, and the government now says part of the answer is sitting inside old army camps. Social Cohesion and Family Minister Domna Michailidou said on Thursday, November 12, that Greece plans to build about 2,400 social housing units on former military sites, with rent set at roughly 50% to 60% of the market rate.
The homes are planned for Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras and will be paid for by the European Union's Social Climate Fund. Michailidou outlined the plan in a TV interview on ANT1, together with a second program that uses public land in the Athens suburbs and a new food support card for low-income households that is due to start before Christmas.
What Is Planned for the Former Army Camps
The project is a joint effort of the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family and the Ministry of National Defense, which holds many military properties that no longer serve a purpose. According to the ministry, procedures are already moving for the first two former camps, the technical studies are nearly finished, and tenders to choose the builders are expected in early 2027.
Earlier reports named the Ziakas camp in the Kordelio-Evosmos area of Thessaloniki and the Manousogiannakis camp in Patras among the first sites, along with a former camp in the Athens area. In August, the Greek business newspaper OT reported a budget of about €405 million, including VAT, for building homes on those first three sites.
The ministry says the new homes will not be isolated housing blocks. The plan calls for organized complexes with high energy efficiency, connected to the neighborhoods around them and including daycare centers, small grocery stores and space for sports. High energy performance is also a condition for funding from the Social Climate Fund, which the EU set up to help households and small businesses with the cost of the green transition.
How Much Rent Tenants Would Pay
Rent will not be the same for everyone. It will be based on each household's income and circumstances, using a points system that gives more weight to factors such as single parenthood or having a child with a disability. Michailidou did not give a euro figure, but said rents would come to about 50% to 60% of market rent, with Finance Ministry assessors helping to set the benchmark.
Exactly who will qualify has not been fully spelled out yet. Past government plans for social housing have put young people, families with three or more children, single-parent households, low-income workers and households that include people with disabilities at the front of the line. A 2025 version of the army camp plan also set aside part of the apartments for members of the armed forces, and it is not yet clear whether that split remains.
New Homes on Public Land in the Athens Suburbs
Michailidou also gave a date for the first tenders under social antiparochi (in Greek, koinoniki antiparochi), a model borrowed from the classic Greek deal in which a landowner gives a plot to a builder in exchange for apartments. In this case the landowner is the state. The first tenders are planned for February 2027 and cover public properties in Nea Ionia, Nea Smyrni, Pefki and Paiania, all in the Athens area.
Under the model, a private builder pays for the construction, keeps the right to use or sell 70% of the apartments, and hands the remaining 30% back for social rent. That means market-rate and lower-rent apartments would share the same building. When the law creating the program passed in 2025, the ministry said tenants who stay more than 10 years and still meet the social criteria would be able to buy their homes.
Market Pass Payments Before Christmas
For households on the tightest budgets, the minister said a new Market Pass is set to start before Christmas for about 190,000 people who receive Greece's Guaranteed Minimum Income. It replaces food package handouts with vouchers worth about €60 a month on average, depending on family size and needs. Because the payments are retroactive, the first one is expected to average around €1,000.
Why Housing Has Become So Urgent
According to the minister, three in 10 Greeks who rent their home face serious housing pressure, especially young people. The government says it is running 47 housing measures, including a yearly rent refund and the Spiti Mou home loan programs. Through its Renovate program (Anakainizo), it hopes to bring about 14,000 empty homes back onto the market.
The homes on former army camps are still years away. Tenders are not expected before early 2027, and in 2025 the ministry said the first apartments would be delivered within three years of construction starting. For renters in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras, the plan offers a timeline for now, while the details on eligibility and exact rents are still to come.
Photo: Residential buildings in Koukaki, Athens, by Texniths, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
