The utilization of public property could solve the housing crisis
The utilization of public property could solve the housing crisis

The utilization of public property could solve the housing crisis

The solution to the housing problem is to transform the unused and abandoned State properties with a set of apartments, commented Mr.Stasinos
RE+D magazine
01.04.2024

The President of the Technical Chamber of Greece Giorgos Stasinos proposed the utilization of the real estate of the State in a specific way that will be a response to the housing problem that mainly affects lower income households.

Speaking at the 2nd STAR Forum held in Lamia, with Demographic and BrainDrain as central topics of discussion, Giorgos Stasinos referred in detail and with examples to the proposal that the TEE has already submitted to the State, while he also asked for political consent in the housing policy.

According to the President of the TEE, the solution to the housing problem is to transform the unused and abandoned State properties with a set of apartments, which will then be given for rent, for a low rent, to families based on socio-economic criteria. In fact, the rent could be extremely low to zero for young couples having children.

He draw a specific example that refers to Athens and in particular a building owned by EFKA on Stadiou Street, which is in ruins and "as the years go by, the value of the property depreciates so its property decreases" as he said. According to the example, a tender can be decided today for the specific building in order to make it a hotel, the tender will be completed in 3-4 years and the investor who will come will obviously not give a high rent as he will need to invest money.

"Therefore the State will have income after 30-40 years" he noted. However, with his proposal, the TEE has submitted, as Giorgos Stasinos continued, "the same property can be exchanged for 150 apartments in Peristeri. In two years, instead of the ruin, we can have 150 apartments that the government can make available to citizens in need." Analyzing the example, the President of the TEE pointed out that "a family that pays 600 to 800 euros in rent will be able to pay 400 euros. And to answer the demographics, we will say that when you have a child you will give 300 euros and if you have a second child you will not give anything. The public will increase its property because it will have a modern property and at the same time it will also receive income from the rent, while now it receives nothing."

At the same time, he sent a message that "instead of some officials sleeping the sleep of the law, they should have some people - I also do it as TEE and with great joy because it concerns the citizens - to do this process and in 2-3 years it will have 2- 3 thousand properties that he will make available to the citizens". In fact, according to Giorgos Stasinos, the benefit will be twofold as "when you put 2-3,000 properties on the market at low rental prices, the prices of the remaining properties will also decrease as the demand will be limited and the offer will be made at better prices". the President of the TEE, this solution is also applicable in the region.

"Let's collect the empty public properties in every area, exchange them for apartments, give them to families with social criteria and give a greater incentive to families who have children" he emphasized, highlighting such a policy as an incentive for young people to stay in Greece Region. "It's very simple, just nobody takes it seriously. We can do this work with pleasure as long as it is assigned to us. They have already entrusted us with a lot, but let them also entrust us with some things that are very concerning to society, because we manage what concerns the Engineers" concluded the President of the TEE.