Filenews 4 July 2024
Britons choose Greece to obtain a residence permit through the Golden Visa program.
In the last 12 months, residence permits issued to British buyers and property investors in Greece have increased by 58%. According to the latest official data of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Britons have now climbed to fourth place on the list, behind only buyers from China, Turkey and Lebanon. In particular, after the end of May, 444 initial permanent investor licenses had been granted to property buyers from Great Britain, compared to 281 licenses in the corresponding period last year. The number refers to authorisations granted since the entry into force of the programme.
The British have now climbed to fourth place, behind Chinese, Turkish and Lebanese investors, taking a share of 3.45% of the total. A year ago, these investors ranked seventh on the list of countries to which most licenses had been granted. According to market sources, the exit of Great Britain from the EU has acted as a catalyst for this development. In particular, many new buyers of holiday homes in Greece now choose to combine their investment with the application for a residence permit, which is considered an additional advantage and incentive for choosing Greece over another destination in southern Europe. In addition to buying a property of high standards and affordable cost, compared to e.g. a property in Italy, Spain, or southern France, buyers from Great Britain can also obtain a residence permit, which allows them to enter and exit the EU without hindrance, for themselves and their family members. An element that has gained weight for many.
As a result, the share of Britons among residence permit applicants has increased. Based on the above data, in the last 12 months (May 2023-May 2024), capital of at least €41 million was invested. euros for the purchase of houses in Greece. In total in 2023, according to Bank of Greece (BoG) data, €101 million flowed from the United Kingdom for the acquisition of real estate in Greece, an increase of 42%. This development is also due to the changes made to the Golden Visa regime, which may have led to the acceleration of the investment decisions of some Britons, who wanted to take advantage of the minimum investment threshold of €250,000, before the recently introduced increases that will take effect from September 1 onwards.
However, given that there are more than 9,000 applications for residence permits, which have not yet been examined by the competent authorities, it is obvious that the share of British investors will increase even more in the coming period. It is reminded that to date, a total of 12,887 initial permanent investor licenses have been granted, but only in 2023 and this year, thousands more have been submitted, resulting in the relevant services not having time to respond and there are long delays ranging from 8 to 10 months, or even more. However, from September there is expected to be a significant decline in new applications, due to the increase of the minimum investment threshold for the granting of a residence permit to €800,000 in Attica (and other areas), where most of the investment activity is located.
Nikos Roussanoglou/Capital.gr
