Athens

1. Athens' Hidden Beaches: While Athens is primarily known for its historical sites, it also boasts beautiful beaches along the Athenian Riviera. Areas like Vouliagmeni and Varkiza offer stunning coastal views and crystal-clear waters, providing a perfect escape from the city heat without the need to travel far. 2. The Ancient Agora's Role in Modern Democracy: Beyond its historical significance, the Ancient Agora of Athens served as a gathering place where citizens debated and discussed civic matters, laying the groundwork for modern democratic practices. Today, it symbolizes the roots of democracy that continue to influence political systems worldwide. 3. The Changing Art Scene: Athens has transformed into a vibrant hub for street art, with numerous murals and graffiti pieces adorning buildings throughout the city. This contemporary art movement reflects social issues and cultural narratives, making Athens a living canvas of modern expression and creativity that may often go unnoticed by visitors.

Athens in 2025 is experiencing a housing crisis driven by rapid price increases, tight supply, and high investor demand, especially from foreign buyers. The **homeownership rate in Athens is above 70%**, placing it among the highest in Europe, while **less than 30% of residents rent** their homes. Median asking prices to **buy an apartment average about €2,480 per sqm**, with central areas at roughly €2,317 and southern districts at €4,000 per sqm. The **median rent is over €10 per sqm per month** in most central, northern, and southern districts. Publicly owned and social housing in Athens play a minimal role, together representing less than 2% of the housing stock. Historically, public or social housing programs in Greece have prioritized homeownership for select groups rather than managing public rental housing, and there is **no significant social rental sector** as found in other European cities. Thus, public housing in Athens is not the same as the social housing seen elsewhere in Europe; the Greek model offers limited, targeted support mainly tied to urgent needs (e.g., disaster relief or historic slum clearance), not a permanent, large-scale rental solution. The majority of Athens’ residents rely on the private housing market, facing steep rents and high purchase costs amidst stagnating incomes and rising living expenses.

Athens is facing a severe housing crisis in 2025, characterized by rapid price increases, reduced affordability, and a deepening mismatch between supply and demand. Over the past seven years, property prices in Attica, which includes Athens, have surged by nearly 90%. As of early 2025, average asking sale prices in Athens rose 5.5% year-on-year, while rents climbed to over €10 per square meter per month in most central, northern, and southern districts. The city's housing supply is shrinking, with new dwelling completions down more than 50% and building permits dropping by 20% in early 2025. The high demand is fueled by both domestic and especially foreign investors, with 40% of property transactions in Athens involving non-Greek buyers. The conversion of many long-term rental units into short-term vacation rentals such as Airbnb — now numbering over 13,000 active listings — further diminishes availability for residents and pushes up rents. Median monthly rent in Athens has reached new highs, hitting around €440 in April 2025, which is unaffordable for many when set against incomes that have fallen by nearly 24% since 2009. Those hardest hit by the crisis include young people seeking their first home, lower- and middle-income households, older renters, and families living in tourist-favored and regenerated neighborhoods, where price growth and displacement pressures are concentrated. The crunch is not limited to Athens’ city center; it also affects working-class districts and previously affordable suburbs. The limited development of new affordable housing and the dominance of the private market have left an increasing segment of the population with few viable housing options.

The current Athens city administration, led by Mayor Haris Doukas, has acknowledged the severity of the housing crisis and set modest but clear targets for affordable and sustainable housing. Recently communicated aims include: converting a city-owned building near Omonia into seven affordable apartments for low-income families, launching a rent subsidy program for 257 young adults (ages 25–39) on minimum wage, and renovating 70 homes for vulnerable groups using both municipal assets and European funding. Concrete activities underway are small-scale but targeted. These include public-private partnerships to redevelop municipal properties, rent subsidies for youth, direct investment in energy-efficient renovations for vulnerable households, and audits of municipal real estate to assess further social housing potential. The city is also planning a Social Housing Office and a Housing Observatory to coordinate future strategy. On a broader scale, a new National Social Housing Initiative was launched nationally in 2025. It aims to construct 150 low-cost apartments on state land, with the first major project at the Chropei site expected to offer around 300 units. Selection prioritizes young people and families, and a portion will be kept as social rentals. Legal reforms are being pursued to accelerate the redevelopment of over 2,000 derelict buildings. While these programs signal a shift to more active municipal involvement, their scale remains limited relative to demand, with most initiatives in pilot stages and systematic, large-scale social rental housing still absent.

Housing cooperatives in Athens play a marginal and highly limited role in the city’s housing landscape. Their share of the total housing stock is negligible, well below 1%, and not statistically captured. Cooperative housing in Athens is mostly experimental, generally found as isolated pilot projects such as CoHab Athens, with almost no comprehensive legal, financial, or policy framework to support their development or scaling. Historically, Greek cooperatives aimed to grant individual land or homeownership, rather than develop collectively managed, non-profit rental housing. Interest in cooperative models has modestly increased due to affordability pressures, but most activity remains small-scale or centered in advocacy and research rather than new construction. National policy recently introduced a Cooperative Housing Initiative intended to provide moderate legal and financial backing for cooperative projects, but regulatory and financial barriers continue to hinder significant expansion. At the municipal level, there are currently no specific city-led programs dedicated to the development or promotion of cooperative housing in Athens. The few social housing measures underway—such as public-private apartment renovations or targeted rent subsidies—do not prioritize cooperative structures. Overall, cooperative housing remains an experimental niche and has not contributed meaningfully to addressing the city’s affordable housing needs.