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The leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, also known as PASOK, Nikos Androulakis has vowed to launch a campaign against the government's "residence permit for property purchase" scheme, commonly known as the "golden visa". PASOK is Greece's third parliamentary party and currently ranks second in opinion polls behind the left-wing SYRIZA.
In an interview with SKAI TV on Friday afternoon, Androulakis called on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis “not to operate his office as an estate agency” and to “abolish the golden visa … yesterday, as Ireland did.”
His speech concerned the housing problem that is mainly faced by young people in Athens and other major cities due to the lack of apartments to rent or buy at affordable rates.
“The government thinks it is dealing with the problem by raising the golden visa threshold to €500,000 in Athens, while leaving, for example, the limit at €250,000 in Piraeus. Is there anything in downtown Athens that hasn’t been bought?” Androulakis asked.
The PASOK leader added that "the golden visa was a policy implemented in many European states due to the 10-year economic crisis."
“The measure has reached its limits, which is why [other countries] are repealing or suspending it. Ireland, Portugal, Spain did it. Mr. Mitsotakis insists on the kind of growth that makes the Greek economy less Greek. I will start a campaign to lead the government to abolish the golden visa,” he promised.
As a reminder, the Greek government has raised the threshold for issuing a five-year residence permit for property investors from €250,000 to €500,000 in some regions, including Athens.
In the first half of 2023 alone, the influx of funds into the Greek real estate market from abroad has exceeded €1 billion. Among these funds, Chinese investors contributed the largest amount. According to official data, from January to October this year, the Greek authorities have issued 2,659 golden visas.
From the start of the program up to October 2023, there have been 37,413 Greek golden visas issued.
Among them, Chinese investors accounted for the largest proportion, with a total of 6,159 golden visas, followed by Turkish investors (698), Lebanese (574), Iranians (355), British (339), Russians (324), Egyptians (313), Americans (253), Israelis (157) and Ukrainians (98).
Source: Ekathimerini
Photo by Constantinos Kollias on Unsplash
