The problems in the Greek market
Referring to the new EU Directive proposal which is going to be voted on the energy upgrade of buildings, Mr. Paradias said that “in the EU at the moment, completely non-territorial obligations are being adopted that cannot be supported by any owner in any European country”. Focusing on the situation and the consequences that the implementation of the new energy directive will have in our country, the president of POMIDA and UIPI noted characteristically that: “they do not care if there is money in the Greek family to carry out energy upgrading interventions, if there is a possibility of support from the banking system, if there is tax relief for those who will do it, if there is technical capacity that will properly implement the upgrades, if construction materials are available and at what prices”.
Necessary new incentives
A central role will be played by the energy certificate, which is already needed for both the transfer and the lease of a property and so if the owners do not take the necessary interventions to raise the category, they will not be able to utilize their property in any way.
As characteristically said by Mr. Paradias: “We will experience the drama of a large part of society, especially the elderly, having the value of their property eroded since they can do absolutely nothing to save it”, given that the interventions that will required are particularly costly and beyond the means of the Greek family. If some support, some substantial incentives and some tax breaks are not given, no one will be able to respond and as a result the properties will be taken out of the rental market, exacerbating the already big problem of the lack of rental housing on the market, which is also putting pressure on the rental prices of new leases”. Each house that is rented out after a long-term lease needs 25-30 thousand euros to be renovated according to the new rules, which is why we see these houses either being locked up or sold.” We need to create tax and other incentives so that there are landlords in the real estate market, who offer their houses for rent, since the state does not have a single one”.
“Aging” building potential
-“The big problem is the state of the country’s existing and already “aging” building potential, given that around 51% is estimated to have been built during the dictatorship. Today the old buildings are in the last category in the energy classification, as they have been built with antiquated specifications and with energy regulations that did not exist at the time. And these old buildings are not few, as real estate market players say meaningfully”, according to a report by the newspaper “Typos tis Thessaloniki” and the journalist Maria Kouzoufi.
The burdens on the owners
-“If you have to raise two categories, this requires a large and serious expense in which they will not be able to most owners respond. The costs are too high”, they emphasize, saying that we are not talking about something simple, like a painting, but about thermal facades, changing frames, thermal insulation, heat pump, etc.
The main thing, as they say, is that all these expenses are asked to be done by the owners but for the benefit of the tenants. That is, they will be done in spaces that are not owned by the owners but are for rent and the amortization of such an expense will be long-term, if it ever actually happens, and therefore completely unprofitable. And when it happens, even if we now have a less energy-intensive property that “saves” the tenant money on cooling and heating, this does not mean that the landlord can raise the rent the next day from 300 to 500 euros for example , as indicated by the owners.
Effects on buying and selling
Thousands of buildings in the country are not at any satisfactory level of energy efficiency, said the co-founder and CEO of Georgakos & Parthenon Real Estate, Kostas Georgakos speaking at Prodexpo North, noting that in the future the big demand in the market will be the energy upgrade of the building stock, as there will no longer be sales if the property does not have a good energy level .
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
As informed the International Union of Property Owners (UIPI – www.uipi.com) in a statement dated 9.2.2023, signed by its president Strato Paradia and General Secretary Emmanuelle Causse, the recasting of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) entered a decisive phase with the vote in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy of the European Parliament (ITRE).
The revision of the EPBD aims to upgrade the European building stock to zero emissions (ZEB) by 2050. In its proposal December 2021, the European Commission introduced an obligation for Member States to phase out their worst-performing buildings by setting EU-wide energy performance standards. These so-called Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) are based on a common upgraded system of Energy Performance Certificates , where, as proposed by the European Commission, the worst 15% of each national building stock will be classified as category A, while category A will be reserved for “Zero Emission Buildings”.
The European Commission’s target was for all buildings to reach Class E in Europe by 2033, but following a vote in the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee, the bar has been set even higher by requiring all buildings in Europe to reach at least category D by 2033 at the latest.
According to UIPI this will potentially concern more than half of the stock in each European country. Excluding, as permitted, listed buildings and second homes, Member States would have to renovate around 40% to 45% of their property sector in eight years. And it doesn’t stop there, as Parliament requires member states to implement additional and higher national targets for the remaining stock beyond that date, the Union stresses, noting that some time is needed before a European Directive is incorporated into national legislations.
