New regulation has a negative impact on housing construction in Greece 11/2025

by Robin Huth

Overview of recent developments in housing construction in Greece, based on the latest update of our Global Building Monitor
by Robin Huth | B+L

I’d like to share the latest updates to our Global Building Monitor, this time with a special focus on Greece because we have been receiving many questions about the development of building permits there.

The chart shows the quarterly evolution of permits from 2022 to 2025. On the right‑hand side you can see a sharp drop in the first quarter of 2025 after many years of steady growth. The cause of that decline is a new regulation that was introduced at the beginning of the year for residential construction. The rule was designed to curb the sprawling, uncontrolled development of village structures and especially the rapid construction of holiday homes, which had pushed up property prices as a large number of foreign investors bought coastal land in Greece. By restricting those investments, the regulation directly reduced the number of permits issued.

Even though we are already in the second quarter of 2025 and the market is beginning to stabilise, the positive trend that we observed in the previous years stopped abruptly in 2025. On an annual basis the updated forecast for 2025 shows a near‑stagnation of permits, with a decline of roughly 1.6 %. The new regulation will therefore limit future growth because it reduces the level of investment in the sector. In short, the policy change is having a noticeable impact on construction activity in Greece.