Costs have become prohibitive
As Attica’s disparate settlements merge into a larger conglomeration, areas that once attracted thousands as a place to build a holiday home are gradually becoming places of permanent residence. Particularly in northern and eastern Attica, where new infrastructure was built for the 2004 Olympic Games and the new international airport, more and more people have decided to settle permanently in what was once a weekend home – or even rebuild on the site. Meanwhile holiday homes, usually in housing complexes or refurbished older homes in villages, are becoming affordable only for the higher income brackets. «The typical holiday home built in the 1960s is very different to that today,» said Eliza Panayiotatou, a professor at the National Technical University’s School of Architecture. «At that time, given what households could afford, a seaside home was usually built to no particular specification, usually supervised by the owners themselves, and often built without a permit,» she explained. «Now that is no longer the usual practice; it is more customary to have a house built professionally or to buy an apartment or house within a large conglomeration built by firms specializing in these residences.» Meanwhile, the older seaside resorts of Attica, particularly in northern and eastern Attica, are being included in town plans for Athens – but without the appropriate infrastructure. «In these areas, a large number of people from the middle classes who once invested in holiday homes in the manner acceptable at the time are now trapped in what are downgraded conditions. In reality, and over a short period of time, investments have depreciated and expectations lowered,» she said. Typical of this transformation is eastern Attica. According to the research program «Strategic Framework for Attica’s Growth,» the population of the Mesogeia plain rose from 129,500 in 1991 to 190,800 in 2001. By 2015, the population of the area is expected to range from 235,000-244,000, and a large number of holiday homes will have become permanent residences, according to the survey. Northern Attica has also seen a large population increase, both along the Evian Gulf and inland, from 44,100 in 1981 to 72,300 in 1991 and 94,243 in 2001. By 2015, it is expected to grow to 114,000-118,000. Acquiring a holiday home is no longer as accessible to the middle classes as it is to the upper income brackets. Land values by the sea and in seaside settlements have skyrocketed, as have construction costs. A holiday home now costs well over 100,000 euros. These factors have affected the type of holiday homes being built. «People in the higher income brackets seem to make more rational choices, mainly because they can afford to – choices that present fewer problems with regard to the quality of both the built and surrounding environment,» Panayiotatou said.
