GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ioanna Alexandropoulou, Konstantinos Plastiras, Filippos Lamnidis and Sergios Lamnidis, Lamnidis Law
close deals, but to help shape them in a way that aligns private interest with public good. Rebalancing Residency and Real Estate: How the Golden Visa Reset Signals a Shift Towards Social Cohesion Over the last decade, Greece’s Golden Visa pro - gramme has played a central role in shaping the trajectory of real estate investment across the country. First introduced in 2013 through Law 4146/2013, the programme granted residency to third-country nationals in exchange for a mini - mum real estate investment of EUR250,000. That relatively accessible threshold, combined with Greece’s appeal as both a holiday and lifestyle destination, quickly propelled the programme into being one of the most attractive in Europe. But what made the scheme successful also made it vulnerable. While at first the programme boosted investment activity in the difficult eco - nomic climate that existed in Greece (it had already started in 2009 and lasted for at least a decade), the combination of achieving easy profit through short-term leasing by new, for - eign owners and a significant number of old closed houses and apartments (often owned by unknown owners or heirs and even confis - cated apartments) led to increasing demand for apartments for rent and its parallel – constantly decreasing availability. The result is evident in Greece, as well as in oth - er Mediterranean countries where the sun and the sea are the main added value in tourism: as demand surged, so too did prices – particularly in Athens, in Thessaloniki and on the country’s most touristic islands. Rents have increased for those young men and women natives seeking their autonomy from the family and a new start in life, while salaries remain low due to the still- present impact of the ten-year economic crisis.
By 2022, it had become evident that the pro - gramme, though economically beneficial, was increasingly disconnected from local housing realities. Entire neighbourhoods were trans - formed by speculative transactions. Short-term leases proliferated, long-term housing supply dwindled, and affordability began to erode. Legal turning points: the shift towards sustainable investment Acknowledging the need to strike a better bal - ance between attracting foreign capital and safeguarding residential access for Greek citi - zens, the government began reshaping the pro - gramme in earnest. A major turning point came with Law 5100/2024, which overhauled both the financial thresholds and the types of properties eligible for residency-linked investment. That reform was deepened and fine-tuned through Law 5193/2025, adopted earlier this year. One of the most significant changes brought about by this new legal framework is the tiered investment threshold, which replaced the “one size fits all” model of the past. In high-demand areas – including the greater Athens region, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and any island with a permanent population over 3,100 residents – the minimum investment has now doubled to EUR800,000. And this isn’t just a matter of price. The investment must be made in a single residential unit of at least 120 square metres, making it impossible to bundle together small apartments – a strategy often used in the past to meet the lower threshold. Elsewhere in Greece, the minimum investment stands at EUR400,000, also under the condi - tion of acquiring a single, sufficiently sized unit. The message is clear: this is not about exclud - ing investors but about encouraging them to direct their capital into areas that actually need
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