Finance Minister Confirms Mortgage-to-Rent Scheme to Reopen Within Two Weeks

Makis Keravnos says a second round of the programme will be launched under the same terms to avoid a lengthy European Commission approval process

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The government will announce a second round of the Mortgage-to-Rent scheme within approximately two weeks, Finance Minister Makis Keravnos has told Politis.

Speaking in response to calls by DIPA MP Alekos Tryfonidis for the scheme to be presented to parliament on Monday, Keravnos noted that the programme is administered by KEDIPES, which needs to be informed and prepared before any announcement can be made. "I said I would bring it back and I will. It needs a few days, perhaps 15 days, and it will be announced," he said. The minister had already signalled his support for relaunching the scheme during a parliamentary session in March.

Asked whether he intends to open any scheme for borrowers, Keravnos said the government is "willing and looking favourably at reopening the Mortgage-to-Rent scheme for a short period of a few months, under the same terms, so there is no issue of having to go back to the European Commission," a process he described as time-consuming and carrying the risk of rejection. Because the scheme operates as a programme rather than a legal regulation, he added, "we will need to persuade the Credit Acquisition Companies" in order to ease additional social pressures.

Foreclosures prompt parliamentary pressure

The minister's comments came in the context of Thursday's parliamentary debate on the remittals of the foreclosure laws, during which Tryfonidis stated that his party had proposed a moratorium on foreclosures until the end of the year, a position he said the banks had also supported. Since no such moratorium was approved, he argued, the finance minister should present the Mortgage-to-Rent scheme no later than Monday, warning that foreclosures are imminent in the coming period and that some of the affected cases involve vulnerable borrowers.

What the scheme does

The Mortgage-to-Rent scheme is a state initiative administered by KEDIPES, designed to protect the primary residences of vulnerable households that are unable to service their loans. In February, as part of KEDIPES's financial results announcement for the second half of 2025, the body reported that 921 applications had been approved to date, with 471 properties already acquired. The scheme remains within its revised target of 1,600 approvals, double the original estimate of 800.

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