With an almost serialistic style,<\/b> Charis Dukas attempts through his article in today’s NEA to appear as the mayor who will solve the housing problem of Athens.<\/p>\n
Only that behind the lofty proclamations, percentages and easy statements, once again the familiar political recipe of general wishful thinking, without costing, without a clear implementation plan and, above all, without any contact with the real economy is hidden.<\/p>\n
The mayor of Athens <\/b>refers to the 117,000 vacant residential units<\/b> and the 38,000 unpowered, <\/b>all of which are ready-made apartments just waiting for someone to flip a switch to let tenants in. The reality, however, is quite different and far more complex than the communication narrative<\/b> he is attempting to set up.<\/p>\n
The vast majority of these properties are old, abandoned or economically unviable to develop. <\/b>Many of them are trapped in multiple ownerships, pending inheritances, litigation, planning arbitrage or require huge capital for renovation and energy upgrades. Duke himself admits that 85% were built before 1980. But that just goes to show the size of the problem, not the ease of the solution.<\/p>\n
But who will pay the costs? The City? The state? The landlords? The taxpayers?<\/p>\n
On this crucial question, the mayor’s article provides no answer.<\/p>\n
He vaguely refers to “European funds,” “incentives” and “renovations” without explaining either the amount of funds required or how they will be secured. Bringing an old 1960s or 1970s apartment back on the market often requires tens of thousands of euros. Energy improvements, structural issues, electrical and plumbing installations, lifts, insulation, fire safety. We are talking about a financial burden that in many cases exceeds the actual value of the property itself.<\/p>\n
This element is completely bypassed by Charis Dukas, because it spoils the communication narrative<\/b> of the “easy solution”.<\/b><\/p>\n
And of course, there’s the other big contradiction<\/b> On the one hand, the mayor attacks the funds and the real estate market, blaming them for the housing crisis more or less. But on the other hand, it is the market itself that has been renovating and bringing back a huge number of abandoned properties in Athens in recent years. Without private capital, without investors and without development mobility, much of the building stock would continue to crumble.<\/p>\n
Most striking, though, is the ease<\/b> with which the mayor talks about “rent escalation”<\/b>, as if the market operates on administrative pronouncements. The housing crisis in Athens is not just the result of closed apartments. <\/p>\n
It is the result of:<\/p>\n
– skyrocketing energy costs,<\/p>\n
– the tax burden on landlords,<\/p>\n
– the lack of new construction for years,<\/p>\n
– low incomes,<\/p>\n
– the over-concentration of population in the capital city,<\/p>\n
– but also the state’s failure to formulate serious housing policy for decades.<\/p>\n
But the Duke, however, appears as if he has now discovered the problem and as if a “discussion with POMIDA” will suffice to solve it.<\/p>\n
Even more tellingly, he presents as a major municipal intervention the identification of… nine social housing apartments. Nine. In a city of hundreds of thousands of people and with huge housing pressures. And at the same time he talks about the need for a thousand homes as if there is already a secured funding, siting and implementation plan.<\/p>\n
Where are the studies;<\/b> Where are the schedules;<\/b> Where are the financials;<\/b> Where are the resources committed;<\/p>\n
Nowhere. <\/b>Because once again, the mayor is investing more in political image than administrative substance.<\/p>\n
And this is something that is now becoming apparent at many levels of city government. From cleanliness and daily life issues to infrastructure, project delays and constant announcements without measurable results, the city government seems to be operating more with communication crowns than with a concrete implementation plan.<\/p>\n
The truth is that the housing crisis<\/b> is<\/b> real and deep. <\/b>But addressing it requires seriousness, economic realism and evidence-based interventions. Not political slogans about “property gutting” and general attacks on the market.<\/p>\n
Because when a mayor talks about thousands of closed homes without explaining who will finance their rehabilitation, how much it will cost, which owners will participate and what institutional framework will be implemented, he or she is not presenting a housing policy. It presents a political manifesto with no impact.<\/p>\n
And that is perhaps the biggest problem with the Duke administration: lots of announcements, lots of communication, but less and less contact with the difficult realities of the city and the economy.<\/p>\n
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