Greek PM: Golden Visa Limit to Increase for Large Cities and Islands
Addressing parliament, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed that the threshold for the country’s golden visa, which grants five-year residency rights for third country nationals who purchase real estate, would increase for properties in large cities and on certain islands.
Mitsotakis confirmed the news in response to a question posed in parliament by the Pasok-KINAL party about the country’s housing problem, which he said was not the result of the program.
Of the total real estate purchases over the last two years, the PM said 7 percent concerned the golden visa program. On the contrary, he added, the scheme was bringing in cash, adding that the government had however proceeded with amendments to the relevant law to protect housing.
In this direction, he said that the golden visa limit could further increase to “800,000 euros for large urban centers and islands… We are discussing a further increase in the golden visa investment threshold that will cover areas where there is pressure on rents, in urban centers, and on the islands”.
He went on to add that the current limit of 500,000 euros for some areas and 250,000 for others would remain in cases that have no housing problem.
The Greek government doubled the minimum visa investment limit to 500,000 euros from 250,000 euros last summer and allowed the purchase of only one property for the set amount. The new limit applied to property purchases in the central, northern and southern sectors of Attica, on Mykonos, Santorini and in Thessaloniki.
Additionally, Mitsotakis said the government would also be examining a regulation that would set out terms of lease for properties acquired through the investor visa program.
Indicatively, the country’s residence by investor scheme generated a title of 2.6 billion euros in revenues in the last three years with 56 percent of 15,000 applications approved concerning buyers from China.
Mitsotakis also said that a working group would be set up to investigate short-term tourist rental (Airbnb-style) activity and its impact on long-term housing. He admitted that “entire neighborhoods were at risk”.
Anecdotal but certainly on Syros one reason for the lack of housing is the number of deserted houses or places in need of restoration. But not enough builders, engineers etc to carry out the works. So if you buy a house for renovation it can become a white elephant. And that is without the red tape
Lower golden visa requirement for USA, we contribute so much aid to Greece, more than any country !!!
So, as the ‘tourists’ come the Greeks leave for elsewhere in the EU. 500,000 non Greeks in Greece… 500,000 Greeks elsewhere in the EU or in the US. Tourism and associated programmes are the only real growth industry in Greece. I guess any gov has to reckon with that. Tourists need to come in…even if that means Greeks going abroad. Hasn’t it always been thus?
Not only are entire neighbourhoods at risk of not having a sufficient supply of housing for local young people, entire ISLANDS are suffering indescribably, e.g., Ithaki