Greece has no general "flat-sharing allowance". One benefit does pay more when you share a home: the student housing allowance. The other state housing schemes are built around a single household or around buying a home, and they rarely help two or three people splitting a rent. This guide covers what applied in the 2024-2025 academic year, and what it means if you are not Greek.
Student housing allowance: where sharing pays
The allowance (φοιτητικό στεγαστικό επίδομα, paid by the Ministry of Education) has been €1,500 a year since 2022, rising to €2,000 if you live with another student (Star, September 2022). An amendment passed in March 2024 (Law 5094/2024, article 205) added €500 for students at universities outside Attica and Thessaloniki, starting with the 2024-2025 academic year (newmoney, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). Amounts per student, per year:
| Where you study | Living alone | Sharing with a student |
|---|---|---|
| University in Attica or the Thessaloniki regional unit | €1,500 | €2,000 |
| University anywhere else in Greece | €2,000 | €2,500 |
Source: Ministry of Education FAQ (in Greek).
Say you study in Patras and rent a flat with a coursemate, both named on the lease. If you both meet the conditions, you each get €2,500, so €5,000 a year for the same flat. Living alone, you would get €2,000.
Who qualifies
- Greek citizens and citizens of other EU countries only, with a Greek tax number (ΑΦΜ, AFM) and a valid Greek student ID card (ακαδημαϊκή ταυτότητα).
- Undergraduates on their first degree, renting in a different city from the family's permanent home, and not living in a university hall of residence.
- Family income for the previous year of up to €30,000, plus €3,000 for each dependent child after the first. For Democritus University of Thrace, the University of the Aegean and the University of Western Macedonia the limit is €40,000.
- At least half of the previous year's courses passed (first-years are exempt), and a lease covering at least six months of the academic year (stegasi.gov.gr).
To get the sharing rate
- Your flatmate must also be an undergraduate on a first degree, within the standard length of their course, at a department in the same city or regional unit as yours. Students of the Hellenic Open University (ΕΑΠ) do not count.
- Their tax number must be declared as a tenant on the same lease, meaning the electronic lease declaration filed on Taxisnet, the Greek tax authority's online portal. If the lease is in your name only, you get the single rate.
- Sharing with someone who works or is not a student gives no increase.
You apply once a year, usually in June and July, at stegastiko.minedu.gov.gr with your Taxisnet login. The money arrives after the academic year ends, so the deposit and September's rent come out of your own pocket.
If you are not Greek
- Non-EU students are not eligible: the rule is Greek or EU citizenship.
- EU students doing a full degree in Greece can apply on the same terms as Greek students. You need a Greek tax number and Taxisnet access to file the application, and the family-income test still applies. Your university's student welfare office (φοιτητική μέριμνα) can tell you which documents they accept.
- Erasmus and other exchange students: the rules are written for undergraduates of Greek universities and the FAQ does not mention exchange students. Ask the student welfare office before counting on it.
Other schemes, and why they rarely help flatmates
OPEKA housing allowance (επίδομα στέγασης, paid by OPEKA, the state welfare benefits agency). For low-income households renting their main home: €70 a month, plus €35 for each additional household member, capped at €210. The income limit for one person is €7,000 a year, and you need five years of legal and permanent residence in Greece, shown by Greek tax returns for those years (OPEKA, in Greek). It is assessed on your household, not the flat, and the rules say nothing about unrelated flatmates. Most people who have just moved to Greece will not meet the residence condition.
"Σπίτι μου ΙΙ" ("My Home II"). Low-interest loans to buy a first home, for people aged 25 to 50, with a total budget of €2 billion (€1 billion interest-free from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, €1 billion from banks). Applications open in January 2025 (Hellenic Development Bank, Greece 2.0). Eligibility runs on Greek tax records. It is for people who want to stop renting, not for sharing a rent.
"Στέγαση και Εργασία για αστέγους ΙΙ" ("Housing and Work for the Homeless II"). A Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family programme for people without a home: rent and basic-needs subsidies, psychosocial support and help finding work. Municipalities, social care centres, certified NGOs and OPEKA run it from 2022 to the end of 2026 (stegasi.gov.gr).
"Rent or co-habitation subsidy" for disaster victims. If you see επιδότηση ενοικίου ή συγκατοίκησης in the Greek news, it is for people temporarily without a home after a natural disaster. After the Storm Daniel floods of September 2023, affected residents could choose a rent subsidy or a co-habitation subsidy (for example, staying with relatives) of €330 to €500 a month (Ethnos, in Greek). It has nothing to do with students or young people sharing a flat.
Initiatives outside the state
In 2023 a citizens' initiative called "Κοινότητες συγκατοίκησης ηλικιωμένων και μη – Φτιάχνω το μέλλον μου" (roughly, "Co-living communities for older people and others – Shaping my future") started working towards self-managed homes where older people live together and support each other. It ran a trial stay in Aidipsos, on Evia, in summer 2023 and is looking to municipalities for space (ERT, in Greek). It has no state funding.
For most people, though, flatshares in Greece still come together the old way: Facebook groups, listings on Spitogatos and xe.gr, and friends from university or work.
What to do in practice
- If you are an eligible student, make sure both of you are declared as tenants on the Taxisnet lease declaration. Without it you lose €500 a year.
- Put June and July in your calendar for the application and keep a copy of the lease.
- The allowance is paid in arrears. The deposit (εγγύηση, usually one or two months' rent) has to come from you at the start.
- If you are not a student, or not Greek or EU, plan on no state help for sharing. The saving is in splitting the rent, the κοινόχρηστα (shared building charges) and the bills.
If you are looking for someone to share with, MyRoomie shows you flatmates with verified identities, matched on lifestyle and habits, and you can talk in the app's messages before arranging a viewing. Find flatmates in Greece on MyRoomie.
