41st POMIDA Congress: Only the three-year tax exemption for empty houses will solve the housing problem!

The 41st Panhellenic Property Owners Conference was held today in the Ermis Hall of EBEA with great success and the presence of a large number of property owners from all over Greece, representatives of the government, political parties, self-government, scientific and professional bodies.

In the context of the conference, government representatives made important announcements on real estate taxation, leases, the Land Registry, dealing with bureaucracy in transfers, the Taxis system, etc.

During the opening speech of the conference, the President of POMIDA and UIPI, Mr Stratos Paradias, emphasized, among other things, the following:

Property is an internationally recognized Human Right, which unfortunately is of little concern to rights activists everywhere. The fate of private real estate, fruit of toil and sweat of the productive core of Greek society, the middle class, concerns and interests everyone: owners, tenants, state and local government, entrepreneurs, professional organizations. Precisely for these reasons, property must be an object of respect by every principle and form of the State, and not an object of encroachment and plunder, in the name of various ideas and purposes. This is how we are today:

• Faced with an exterminating rent tax scale of up to 45%, without any tax-free threshold, which is the only one that was not rationalized during the last two government terms, unlike the other two tax scales.
• Faced with an ENFIA which, with its new additional tax, consciously wrongs a portion of the taxpayers, those who have always paid the most, without taking into account their real tax potential, i.e. the real income, from which the payment will be covered tax!
• Faced with the possibility of complete depreciation, a real "sudden death", of almost all of the non-plan real estate of the Greek people, without any foreseen compensation, which will lead thousands of small owners to the Greek and international courts against the State, while at the same time conditions are being created for the transfer of these devalued areas outside the plan to large investment schemes for symbolic prices.
• Faced with the impossibility of transferring assets due to the application of the building identity and the impossibility of correcting the area mentioned in the contracts and deeds of ceiling ownership, so that they correspond to the actual situation that in the vast majority of cases has existed since the construction of the building.
• Faced with the upcoming obsolescence of the existing buildings due to the inability to finance their mandatory energy upgrade, which neither the Greek family nor the banking system is able to support, without substantial government assistance.
• Faced with the continuation of charging municipal cleaning and lighting fees to properties without electricity due to ignorance of the obligation to declare the interruption to the competent Municipality and the extension of the statute of limitations for the claims of the Municipalities beyond the five years that applies to the entire other wider public sector.
• Faced with the abolition of lease agreements in commercial housing, through the 3% ceiling which portends unpleasant developments on the lease front.
• Faced even with the exemption of rental income as income which reduces the new self-employed 'presumption'.

Today, however, the problem of the lack of houses to rent as a main residence also appears in our country, which is aggravated by the fact that Greece is one of the few countries in Europe in which there is no provision for "social housing". Everyone refers to the problem and its consequences, especially to the detriment of the new generation, recognizing that the demand has increased, while the supply is constantly limited, due to the thousands of homes that remain closed for various reasons and especially due to the high tax rates that make it unprofitable their rental, especially when maintenance, renovation or upgrading work is also required.

However, only POMIDA proposes the only solution that will ensure an increase in supply, bringing many thousands of properties back to the market, and will rationalize rents:

POMIDA'S PROPOSAL TO OPEN THE CLOSED HOUSES

The government's housing programs are great, but they will begin to yield visible results after at least three years.

POMIDA proposes the immediate enactment of a three-year, one-time transitional measure – bridge, with the following simple addition to the Income Tax Code:

«" In the current paragraph under point a) of paragraph 3 of article 38 of the Income Tax Code (L. 4172/2013) (Note: If the lessor or grantor is a natural person, a five percent (5%) rate is deducted for expenses repair, maintenance, renovation or other fixed and operating costs of the property.) a second sentence is added as follows:

«" This percentage increases to 100% if the income comes from a new residential lease of a minimum three-year lease period with a start date from 1.1.2024 to 31.12.2026 and for the first three (3) years of each lease, as long as the residence is leased to natural persons for use as their main residence and was vacant at least throughout the year 2023 or had an active short-term rental AMA on 31.12.2023." » .» .

The adoption of this measure, without exceptions, criteria and "yes buts" is the only way to immediately solve the housing problem because it will completely reverse the current image of the market, making the owners rush to look for tenants in order to take advantage of the measure, and it will benefit all involved: 

• The tenants because they will immediately find a home and the rents will be reduced.
• The owners who with this incentive will be motivated to use their empty homes for their own benefit as well as for society. 
• The owners with the old leases because the balancing of supply and demand will normalize the market and will make any proposal to impose rent measures against them pointless.
• The State because it is the only way to immediately and effectively solve the problem of renting a house, without substantial financial loss! 

We remind you that with a similar regulation proposed by POMIDA and adopted by the then PASOK government - (Kostas Simitis - Evangelos Venizelos, Vasso Papandreou, Georgios Drys) for the 15-month period October 1999 - December 2000, the housing problem of the of earthquakes resulting from the Parnitha earthquake (7.9.1999). (NOTE: Ministry of Economy and Trade Resolution 3876/14.9.1999 and Law 4947/12.10.1999, article 18, par. 5 Law 2768/1999, Official Gazette 273A'). 

Mr. Paradias finally presented the 20 most serious pending requests that concern property owners (listed at the end of the press release).

During the speeches held at the conference, the following were highlighted, among others:

In her greeting at the beginning of the conference, the President of EBEA Ms Sofia Kounenaki - Efraimoglou emphasized that private real estate has always played an important role in the development of the economy and that during the crisis the owners contributed to the survival of thousands of businesses by freezing rents . He asked for the completion of the cadastre and forest maps as well as incentives for quality market development.

Mr Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of National Economy and Finance, representative of the Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced the extension of the suspension of VAT for another year - until the end of 2025 - as well as the adoption of measures to limit the Golden Visa, increase of limits but also an exception for conservation properties for which a lower minimum limit will apply "in order to direct funds to a category of properties that particularly needs them". In relation to POMIDA's proposal for the three-year tax exemption for new leases, the minister emphasized: "It is something we have discussed in the ministry. It is a proposition that cannot be easily dismissed. I have given instructions to the competent services of the Ministry to carry out the relevant studies, so that we can also see, based on ELSTAT's data, the real number of properties and based on these data, we can do a cost-benefit analysis. In order to be sure of the control and the crossings we will do, both the actual number of empty apartments and for all the other parameters. So that the decision we will make is based on more data." He also recalled the actions for the housing policy implemented by the government, such as the reduction of ENFIA by 35% from 2019, the abolition of the tax on parental benefits-donations up to 800 thousand euros, the doubling of the investment limit for the Golden Visa from 250,000 to 500,000 euros for high demand areas, the regulation of the short-term rental market.

Mr Nikos Pappas, former Minister of State, representative of the President of SYRIZA, Mr. Stefanos Kasselakis, emphasized that SYRIZA views positively any measure that can contribute to increasing the supply of real estate and improving the building stock. He pointed out the need to record closed properties, while regarding the ENFIA discount on insured properties, he mentioned that for small properties the discount is always lower than the premium. He also stated that he is open to dialogue on changes to the Golden Visa.

Mr Dimitrios MantzosState Member of Parliament, representative of the President of PASOK, Mr. Nikos Androulakis, criticized the government on the issue of the Golden Visa, asking for its suspension and not its limitation, but also for the fact that it did not utilize the Recovery Fund for social production residence. "POMIDA's proposal, he said, seems to contribute substantially to addressing the housing problem without affecting public revenues." He was also in favor of the progressive taxation of property, inheritance and income.

Mr Yiannis Skalkos, Politician - Spokesman of the HELLENIC SOLUTION and its President, Ms. Kyriakos Velopoulos, spoke about the difficulties and issues of corruption in transactions and the general activity in relation to real estate. He also considered POMIDA's proposal for the vacant properties to be positive.

Mr Theodoros Skylakakis, Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, responsible for Tax Policy, emphasized that the new property ownership and use register of AADE will help to solve important problems. He also stated that the extension of the objective system to settlements where it does not currently work is progressing, while at the same time the process for the objections submitted by the Municipalities is proceeding at a fast pace.

Mr Haris Theocharis, Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, responsible for Tax Policy, emphasized that the new property ownership and use register of AADE will help to solve important problems. He also stated that the extension of the objective system to settlements where it does not currently work is progressing, while at the same time the process for the objections submitted by the Municipalities is proceeding at a fast pace.

Mr Konstantinos Kyranakis, Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, responsible for the National Land Registry, referred to the measures taken to deal with the delays in the transfers while he mentioned that last week the first contract with the new digital process was carried out in Thessaloniki with the completion of the transfer in 14 minutes. He noted the certificates (regarding non-debt TAP, etc.) that were abolished, the digitization process of the mortgage registries, while he announced that soon the information on the properties will be included in the digital "wallet" gov.gr. Mr. Vassilis Span

Mr Vassilis Spanakis, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security was in favor of the POMIDA proposal for the three-year tax exemption while also referring to the housing needs of workers in tourist areas.

Mr Giorgos Pitsilis, Governor of AADE announced that next week the platform for the reduction of the ENFIA for the insured properties will be opened where the owners will see their properties and that the goal for this year is to open the ENFIA a month earlier so that be paid in 11 installments instead of 10. He also mentioned that with the myproperty digital platform thousands of transactions are processed electronically.

Mr Haris Doukas, Mayor of Athens, expressed the Municipality's interest in the proposal of POMIDA to go to the Municipalities in order to use the properties of the unknown owner as social housing, while in relation to tourism he said that the Municipality has commissioned a carrying capacity study so that in consultation with hotels and short-term rental platforms to ensure sustainable tourism.

Mr Giorgos Rouskas, President of the Notaries pointed out the great difficulties in transactions due to bureaucratic obstacles and delays in the response of public services such as the Land Registry and the DOU. He also emphasized that for any certificates requested by the State, there should also be a digital and easy process for issuing them. "We are still far from providing quick and secure solutions to the transfer of real estate," he added.

Mr Lefteris Potamianos, President of Athens - Attica Brokers, emphasized the need for the owners to be able to correct their title deeds and the acts of establishment of horizontal ownership so that legal transactions are not thwarted. He said that the increased demand is a sign of the health of the market, but the problem is the reduced supply due to the crisis period.

In the informative section of the Conference:

Mr Apostolos EfthymiadisElectrical Mechanical Engineer NTUA – PhD MIT, referred to the need to save energy in existing buildings, the implementation of which is not possible under the current cost conditions without substantial government assistance to their owners.

Η κ. Vasiliki Paradia, Attorney at Law, analyzed the new provisions governing land registration, the correction of obvious errors and the transfer of real deeds to the Land Registry Offices of the country.

Mr Manos Kranidis, Civil Engineer NTUA, referred to the dangers of the indirect abolition of legal off-plan building which has troubled both the owners and the technical world of the entire country.

Mr Nikos Kehagiaoglou, Insurance Consultant of POMIDA referred to the need to insure private buildings against natural disasters and especially to the 10% discount from the total ENFIA of each insured residence.

Mr Ilias Papadopoulos, Natural Resource Utilization Engineer of the company HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES SA referred to the great efficiency of the installation of modern Household Photovoltaic systems, which are in fact subsidized by a significant percentage by the special program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

TODAY'S TOP 20 PROBLEMS – REQUESTS OF POMIDA

Ministry of Finance

1. Substantial reduction of rental income taxrates , mainly of new leases of vacant houses for 3 years.
2. Abolition of any form of additional tax to ENFIA.
3. Deduction of the legal costs of current maintenance, repair and insurance of the buildings ..
4. Electronic rendering of the VAT number of apartment buildings and restoration of the independent taxation of the leases of common areas ..

Ministry of Environment and Energy

5. Full restoration of the possibility of legal off-plan construction ..
6. Possibility of unilateral correction of contracts and acts of incorporation of a property horizon.
7. Recognition of private rights in forest maps.
8. Unilateral abolition of the right to rise by incorporating the co-ownership percentage in other properties.

Ministry of Interior

9. Automatic stoppage of charging municipal fees with the interruption of power supply to vacant properties.
10. Permanent possibility to declare undeclared areas with favorable terms and escalating fines.
11. Determination of a maximum limit of fines and additional taxes up to 50% of the basic debt.
12. Five-year statute of limitations for all types of debts to OTAs.

Ministry of Digital Governance – Land Registry

13. Speeding up the process of transfers of deed deeds / correction of obvious errors.
14. Permanent possibility to declare real estate in the Land Registry.
15. Abolition of the "proportional fee of 1‰ on the value of land-registered properties.
16. Abolition of the fixed cadastral fee of the pilot programs.

Other Topics:

17. Retainable: Subsidy of the renovation & operation of the transfer of building factor, tax relief of owners.
18. Short-term Leases: Simplification of the new collection paperwork of the new accommodation and environment fees.
19. Commercial Leases: Ending the 3% "cap" that continues to impose a Tenant on commercial leases
20. Completing the clearance of outstanding COVID compensation.

K. Hatzidakis: 5 initiatives of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance for real estate

Speech of the minister at the 41st^ο Panhellenic Congress of POMIDA

The actions of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance that will be implemented in 2024 for real estate were presented by the minister, Kostis Hatzidakis, speaking today at the 41st Panhellenic Conference of Property Owners.

Mr. Hatzidakis underlined that the objectives of the government policy in this particular sector are the balance in the housing market with an increase in the available properties for rent, especially for young people who face the biggest housing problem, the respect of the rights of the owners and the support of the constructions. In this context, in 2024 the following will be implemented:

1. From 1.1.2024 an additional reduction of ENFIA by 10% applies for residences insured for natural disasters. In the next period, the decision will be issued in order to start operating at the online address www.aade.gr a ​​new digital platform where the details of the active real estate insurance contracts will be found. Taxpayers will log into the platform to confirm details of their insured properties, for which a reduced 2024 ENFIA will be calculated.

2. From 2024, the increase in the tax exemption for costs of energy, functional and aesthetic upgrading of buildings (from 40% to 100%), which is included in the recent tax reform, but also for costs of purchasing goods with a maximum expenditure limit of 16,000 euros in 5 years.

3. The "Renovate - Rent" Program''is starting soon , which aims to increase the number of houses available for rent through the utilization of empty private houses, which will be rented for at least 3 years. The program subsidizes by 40% the cost of the renovation and up to the amount of €10,000. The goal through this program is to put 12,500 additional private homes on the market.“ In this context, I want to note that we will study the proposal of POMIDA in relation to the houses that remain empty/unleased . It is something we have discussed in the Ministry. It is a proposition that cannot be easily dismissed. I have given instructions to the competent services of the Ministry to carry out the relevant studies, so that we can also see, based on ELSTAT's data, the real number of properties and based on these data, we can do a cost-benefit analysis. In order to be sure of the control and crossings we will do, both the actual number of empty apartments and for all the other parameters. So that the decision we will make is based on more data ,"said Mr. Hatzidakis.

4. The suspension of VAT on new buildings is extended for one more year - that is, until the end of 2025 -, «" because above all we consider that the lack of housing is primarily dealt with by the production of housing ", noted Mr. Hatzidakis.

5. Finally, in relation to the Golden Visa , the minister stated that measures will be applied to limit it, the limits will be increased to make more substantial investments but there will be an exception for conservation properties for which a lower minimum limit will apply "so that we can direct funds in a real estate class that particularly needs them."

Mr. Hatzidakis recalled the actions for the housing policy that the government has implemented, such as the reduction of ENFIA by 35% from 2019, the abolition of the tax on parental benefits-donations up to 800 thousand euros, the doubling of the investment limit for the Golden Visa from 250,000 to 500,000 euros for areas of high demand, the regulation of the short-term rental market.

He also noted the policies for the purchase of real estate that he has implemented over time, which include the "Excoionamo" program since 2009, the liberalization of commercial leases in 2014, the "My Home" program with subsidies and low-interest or interest-free loans for renovating, renting and buying a home.

«" In the government of New Democracy and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, we have put the issues of the housing market very high on our list of priorities, recognizing that property owners are the backbone of the middle class, the one that keeps our country standing. We operate responsibly, we have honored our commitments both in 2019 and 2023 and we are trying to have a common sense and efficiency approach ,"concluded the minister.

Source: https://www.pomida.gr/newspost.php?nsl=41o-synedrio-pomida-monon-i-trietis-foroapallagi-ton-kenon-katoikion-tha-lysei-to-problima-tis-stegis