“My Home 3”: Greece Plans New Cheap Mortgage Push – 16,000 Buyers Could Benefit

Housing moves to the centre of the government’s Thessaloniki agenda, with a €500 million plan, broader eligibility and a new financing model for cheaper mortgages

The Greek government is preparing the ground for the next generation of its subsidised housing programme, as the cost of buying or renting a home remains one of the most pressing economic challenges facing younger households and the middle class.

With the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) approaching, attention is turning to a potential third round of the “My Home” programme following the completion of “My Home II” on August 31.

Greece’s National Housing Strategy 2026–2035 envisages an expansion of the scheme with a budget of approximately €500 million and around 16,000 potential beneficiaries.

The political and economic significance, however, lies in the changes now under consideration: a larger pool of eligible properties, potentially broader income and age criteria, and a financing mechanism designed to offer cheaper mortgages without relying exclusively on European funds.

“My Home II” closed with €1.54 billion in mortgages

The government enters the debate over a third round with the final results of “My Home II” now available.

According to official figures:

• 15,097 loans were approved, worth €1.82 billion.
• 14,114 final mortgage contracts were signed, worth €1.54 billion.
• Public financing reached €943.2 million.
• The properties purchased were worth more than €2.15 billion.
• The average approved mortgage stood at approximately €120,400.

The figures underline the strong take-up of a programme designed to make home ownership more accessible at a time when property prices and rents have risen sharply.

Who benefited from the cheap mortgages?

The social profile of the beneficiaries is equally revealing.

The average age was 38, while 41% were aged 36 or younger. At the same time, 66.6% had annual incomes of up to €24,000, with the average beneficiary earning €21,130 per year.

These figures support the government’s argument that the scheme primarily reached younger households and people on low-to-middle incomes.

The challenge for the next programme will be considerably more difficult: widening access while avoiding further distortions in an already tight housing market.

The 2007 property cut-off could change

One of the most important potential changes concerns the age of eligible properties.

Under the previous programme, restrictions on the age, size and value of properties significantly reduced the number of homes available to prospective buyers.

The government is now examining whether the existing 2007 construction cut-off should be revised so that newer homes can become eligible.

If adopted, the change could significantly expand the pool of properties available under the scheme.

It has not, however, been finalised.

More beneficiaries – Income and age limits under review

Income and age criteria are also being reconsidered.

One problem identified during the previous round was that households could be excluded even when their income exceeded the eligibility ceiling by only a relatively small amount.

A broader eligibility framework is therefore being discussed, although the government has yet to announce final thresholds.

Politically, this could prove crucial.

Greece’s housing affordability problem no longer affects only lower-income groups. Rising rents and property prices increasingly weigh on middle-income households that may earn too much to qualify for existing assistance but still cannot comfortably finance the purchase of a home.

The big change: Cheaper mortgages without permanent reliance on EU money

The most important economic question surrounding “My Home 3” may be how it will be financed.

“My Home II” relied on a model under which 50% of the financing was provided interest-free through Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Facility resources, with the remaining 50% supplied by participating banks.

That mechanism cannot necessarily be replicated indefinitely once the exceptional European funding cycle ends.

The government is therefore examining a different approach involving tax incentives for banks, encouraging lenders to offer lower interest rates to eligible borrowers.

If implemented successfully, such a mechanism could have implications well beyond the third round of “My Home”.

It could provide the foundations for a more permanent system of affordable mortgage financing that is less dependent on extraordinary European subsidies.

The risk: Could cheaper loans push property prices even higher?

There is, however, another side to the equation.

Helping thousands of households borrow more cheaply increases purchasing power — and therefore housing demand.

Unless the supply of available homes rises accordingly, part of the benefit generated by cheaper mortgages could ultimately be absorbed by higher property prices.

This is why potentially relaxing the property-age restriction matters more than it may initially appear.

Greece’s housing problem is not simply a question of access to finance. It is also a question of insufficient supply of affordable homes.

A successful “My Home 3” would therefore need to address both sides of the market.

TIF 2026: Housing becomes a political battle for the middle class

The prospect of a new “My Home” programme gives the housing issue a major political dimension ahead of the Thessaloniki International Fair.

Housing costs have become one of the strongest pressures on household disposable income, particularly for younger Greeks trying to establish independent households and families.

For Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the government, a new generation of cheaper mortgages could form part of a broader effort to translate Greece’s improved macroeconomic performance into tangible gains for citizens.

The decisive question, however, is not simply whether there will be a “My Home 3”.

It is how much cheaper the mortgages will actually be, how many people will qualify and — most importantly — how many suitable homes they will actually be able to buy.

Those three factors will determine whether the third round becomes another successful subsidised lending programme or evolves into a more substantial response to Greece’s housing affordability crisis.

Source: pagenews.gr