Cities 4 Co-Housing – Thessaloniki Investment Plan

The Cities 4 Co‑Housing – Thessaloniki Investment Plan is a comprehensive report prepared by Maria Karagianni and Meric Ozgunes for URBACT, a European Union agency that supports urban development. The authors bring expertise in urban policy and social housing, drawing on URBACT’s experience in coordinating trans‑national city networks. The plan outlines a pilot project to convert a vacant listed building on Siatistis Street into 10‑11 cost‑rental co‑housing units, targeting single‑parent families, older adults and Housing First beneficiaries. It integrates governance, social, legal‑financial and building modules to create a replicable model for non‑speculative, sustainable housing in Greece.

Thessaloniki faces a deepening housing crisis characterised by rising rents, stagnant incomes and a near‑absence of social housing. Around 32 % of renter households spend over a third of their income on rent, rising to 86 % for low‑income families. Overcrowding affects 27 % of residents, with vulnerable groups such as single‑parent families (46 804 households) and migrants disproportionately affected. The city’s housing stock is ageing; roughly half of dwellings were built before 1980 and suffer from poor energy performance, contributing to energy poverty and high utility costs.

The pilot converts the Siatistis building into 10‑11 units with co‑housing elements. Deep energy retrofitting will improve thermal performance and integrate nature‑based solutions, aligning with EU Green Deal and Renovation Wave objectives. The building will serve as a “proof of concept” for a governance framework that includes a Steering Committee, Partner and Resident Committees, and volunteer structures. Social services will be embedded, with gender‑ and care‑sensitive allocation, support for Housing First participants, and community‑building activities to foster a neighbourhood hub.

Funding will combine EU structural funds (ESF+, ERDF) with national and municipal resources, creating a mixed financing package. Legal instruments will simulate Community Land Trust‑type protections by maintaining long‑term public ownership and non‑speculative use, despite the absence of a formal CLT model in Greece. The plan proposes a cost‑rental business model for the Social Rental Agency, with clear affordability rules and reinvestment mechanisms to sustain low‑cost housing.

Energy efficiency is central: the retrofit will aim for deep reductions in heating demand, leveraging heritage‑sensitive upgrades and monitoring systems. Tenant training will promote energy‑conscious living, linking households to local energy communities where possible. These measures address both climate mitigation and the reduction of energy poverty for vulnerable residents.

A multi‑level governance architecture ensures stakeholder involvement. The Steering Committee oversees overall delivery, while Partner Committees coordinate MDAT, the Municipality, NGOs and technical partners. Resident Committees will gradually assume day‑to‑day management, supported by plain‑language statutes and co‑design tools such as “Archilab‑lite” workshops. Monitoring tools will capture housing quality, well‑being and social outcomes, feeding back into policy adjustments.

The pilot is designed to generate transferable knowledge for upscaling across Thessaloniki and other Greek cities. By demonstrating a replicable governance, financing and design model, it aims to activate vacant public assets—estimated at over 35 000 empty homes city‑wide—as a source of affordable, sustainable housing. The project aligns with local, national and EU priorities, contributing to the City Strategy on Affordable Housing, the EU Cohesion Policy, and the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The plan supports multiple policy strands: the EU’s social inclusion agenda, the Green Deal’s energy transition, and the Renovation Wave’s focus on deep retrofits. It also complements Greece’s emerging Social Rental Agency framework, offering a concrete blueprint for integrating social, gender and care considerations into housing allocation and management.