The meeting was attended by the Vice-President of POMIDA, NTUA Professor Mr. Charalambos Tsoutrelis and the Engineer Mr. Theodoros Serafeidis, former Vice-President of TEE and Technical Advisor of POMIDA.
During their meeting, Mr. Mitsotakis stated the following:
“On how to revive the real estate market again – as you know – we have put forward a framework of six main proposals, which we believe will breathe new life into a market that we consider absolutely decisive to contribute to the overall development effort of the country. That is why the issue of real estate purchase in our own development plan is an absolute priority.
Since we are also talking about development plans, I cannot but comment on the fact that with more than 2 years delay, the Government seems to be finally drawing up a development plan for the country. Without, however, any consultation, without making any discussion with the market players. It is a plan that he keeps hidden, a secret. He is discussing it with the institutions, but not with the Greek citizens. has a structured, documented and costed development plan for the Greece of tomorrow. And under no circumstances are we bound by development plans which are drawn up in secret and which may reflect a completely different philosophy from the one we advocate. We believe in the power of the free market. We believe in the power of the private economy. We believe in the need to attract capital. We believe in privatization. We believe in reducing bureaucracy, reducing taxation, supporting different sectors such as the real estate sector with targeted actions. We don’t want a big paternal state that imposes excruciating contributions and taxes to hand out benefits as a form of social policy. And for us, the best social policy, always, is the creation of new jobs. That is why we are waiting with interest to find out what this infamous development plan of the Government is. But in no case as N.D. we are not bound by it. But we did not come today to discuss the generalities. We have come to discuss the specifics of the real estate market, so it is a great pleasure to hear your thoughts, your own proposals and to see where and to what extent there is common ground between what you suggest and what we want to do. We requested the “save” program as N.D. for a very long time, as a successful model of co-financing energy saving actions and energy upgrading of buildings. The Government managed to manage it and this the way it managed it..
Then the President of the ND. Mr. Mitsotakis referred to the 6 proposals of the New Democracy for the real estate market:
- Reduction of the ENFIA by 30% by harmonizing the objectives with commercial values, within the first two years of the governance of the New Democracy .
- Suspension of VAT on new building activities for three years, to support the real estate market.
- Suspension of capital gains tax, i.e. the tax on the profit in real estate sales, for three years and its review from a zero base in the fourth year.
- 40% to 50% tax reduction for energy and functional property upgrading works, with special care for the poorest households and for those facing liquidity problems.
- Simplification of transfers and reduction of supporting documents for the transfer of real estate. It is typical that today 23 supporting documents are required, our goal is to immediately reduce them to a third and gradually make them all available electronically.
- Strengthening of tax incentives for the acquisition of real estate in Greece by citizens of other countries (Golden visa program & nom/dom legislation)
“With our own proposal, continued Mr. Mitsotakis, ENFIA that the average Greek household pays will be reduced to €350 from around €500 in 2017. The strategic objective is to stimulate investment and disposable income. Even if the recovery of investment in the real estate market is partial, it can lead to the strengthening of employment and incomes in many professions related to construction and mediation. It is, in other words, a necessary condition for the positive investment shock that our country needs to get out of the crisis. With our proposals for tax reduction and incentives, it is served the strategic objective of the recovery of investments through the construction of new or the reconstruction of old houses. This is how aesthetic and energy upgrading of existing homes is achieved and the reduction of the environmental footprint of our country. But even more, it increases the added value of real estate and avoids the ghettoization of our cities, especially in the central neighborhoods. Our proposals, therefore, in addition to directly benefiting taxpayers by reducing their tax burden, cause multiple positive results at a developmental, social and environmental level.”
Mr. Stratos Paradias summarized POMIDA’s proposals for the real estate market, construction and the economy in 10 points:
- Reduction of ENFIA at a rate of up to 30%, with priority given to the immediate abolition of the ENFIA supplementary tax, which is responsible for the investment abstinence of all those taxpayers whom we expect to be at the vanguard of the country’s development!
- Tax subsidy of 50% of the cost of energy and functional upgrade works of existing buildings that are carried out with full legal supporting documents, through the possibility of offsetting payment of any tax due to the State. Therein lies the real possibility and opportunity for the economy and employment, and not so much in the construction of new buildings!
- Adjusting the objective values (zone prices) to today’s harsh reality of the economy and the non-existent real estate market.
- Rationalization of property income taxation.
- Abolition or significant reduction of VAT on new constructions and building repairs.
- Reduction of living (residence) presumptions to 50% of the applicable ones, so that they are adjusted to today’s incomes, not pre-crisis incomes.
- Three-year suspension from where you are concerned in the purchase and reconstruction of real estate.
- Simplification of the procedures for real estate transactions, with the first step being the reduction of the huge number of required supporting documents.
- Extension of the deadline for the finalization of the first registrations of the National Land Registry until the completion of 20 years from the start of operation of each land registry office.
- Automatic confirmation on the electricity bills of the municipal fees for legalized spaces, without charging retroactive fees.
The President of the TEE Mr. Giorgos Stasinos referred, among other things, to the need for recovery the construction and repair activity in our country, which will revitalize the entire economy and the problems faced by the technical world of the country. He also referred in particular to the malfunctioning of the electronic platform of the new “Exkoonamo” and the ongoing technical difficulties in confirming data and completing applications, bothering hundreds of engineers from all over the country. He even emphasized that there may be a question of legal claims from many interested parties who, while they were all ready, ultimately did not manage to join the program due to the weaknesses of the electronic system.
See it video from the proposal of the President of the ND. Mr. Kyriakou Mitsotakis.
