Eteron Survey: One in two tenants find it difficult or unable to pay their rent

One in two tenants find it difficult or unable to pay their rent and 76.9%, after paying the house expenses, make ends meet, make cuts or receive financial assistance from third parties. The above results from a survey conducted on behalf of the Eteron Institute for Research and Social Change, which highlights the stress, insecurity and uncertainty of tenants in Greece.

The survey was conducted during the period 24 May-3 June 2022 by the company aboutpeople on a sample of 1,007 tenants, aged 18 and over, throughout Greece.

42.3% of respondents have seen increases in rent in the last two years, while rents in Attica have increased more than in the rest of Greece. The main problems faced by the respondents in terms of housing are the expensive electricity and operating costs (65.5%), the expensive rent (34.8%), the difficulty of finding a house to rent (28.9%), the poor condition of the house (26.4%) and the insufficiency of heating and cooling (21.9%).

47.8% of tenants said they found it difficult to pay the rent. Also, 61.7% stated that they have cut other basic needs and 15.2% that in order to cover their other basic needs they receive financial assistance or borrow from third parties.

Housing expenses for about two out of three are covered by their personal work, while 33.1% rely systematically or occasionally on family / friends and 12.3% on benefits and other public policies. One in five receives a rent allowance.

There are several reasons why finding a affordable home is difficult. The main reasons mentioned in the survey are accuracy (49%), lack of price control and irrational demands of the owner (45.3%), decrease in income (40.5%), increase in basic fixed mortgages (25.7%), Airbnb short-term leases (24.1%), unemployment (21.8%) and the absence of a public social housing policy (21.3%).

The issue of rental housing creates in the tenants mainly inability to save (49.1%), financial difficulties (41%), difficulty of long-term planning (28.6%), need to find a second job (12.6%) and postponement of starting a family or / and having children (9.6%). When asked about their feelings about the current situation with rents, participants reported insecurity (28.7%), anxiety (21.9%) and resentment (17.9%).

Three out of four want to own a home. Half of them believe that they will succeed, 22.5% by taking a loan, 15.8% by inheritance and 8.4% without having to borrow. Young people are more optimistic.

Respondents consider the government (57.1%) and the owners (50.2%) to be primarily responsible for the housing problem. Political parties, investors, previous generations, immigrants, local government and tourists follow in smaller percentages.

Finally, regarding the measures that can be taken to solve the housing problem in rent, the participants answered the increase of salaries and job creation (56.5%), the ceiling in rents (53.3%), the tax and other incentives for landlords to dispose of their properties at affordable prices (37.9%), rent allowance (33.2%), social housing policies (23.8%), regulation of the short-term rental market ( 19.7%) and the utilization of empty public buildings (19.2%).

Highlighting good practices in other European countries, the Eteron Institute refers to the control and regulation of rents in Barcelona and the Netherlands, the regulation of short-term leases in Austria, the mediation services between landlords and tenants, and the incentives for landlords in France and the creation of tenants’ associations in Germany.

The Eteron Institute points out that there is a need for structured and decisive public intervention and institutional regulation to keep rental prices low and ensure that everyone has access to affordable rental housing. Public intervention, he adds, can not be limited to emergency measures and only for specific groups of the population, ie the most extremely deprived. We need a systematic policy of support, with a focus on large population groups.

The director of Eteron, Gabriel Sakellaridis, during a relevant press conference described the issue of housing and in particular rents as “an important thorn in the side of society”. “In fact, this is a ‘silent crisis’ that may not be expressed in terms of extroversion, but it greatly concerns households, is the subject of discussion in families and groups, and determines both the family budgets and the emotional state of all of us,” he said. He added: “The time has come for the issue of housing and rents to come to the fore in terms of public policy and for the state to stop ostriches.”

Among other things, the Eteron Institute proposes rent subsidies to a wider range of beneficiaries and housing costs, rent control and regulation as a direct intervention to contain prices, regulate short-term leases and investment control in order to limit fast and opportunity investments. Also, the support of socially and economically affordable housing, through a supported housing agency and / or a mediation agency, and the adoption of incentives for property owners, while emphasizing the positive experience of the ESTIA asylum seekers housing program. Finally, the reconstruction of socially and economically affordable housing is proposed.

The poll was conducted as part of Eteron’s project “Rents in Heights”. More about this project at the link https://eteron.org/category/enoikia-sta-ypsi/