What was intended as relief for tenants has instead added fuel to Greece's housing crisis. On June 6, 2025, the government announced that it would cover the equivalent of one month's rent each year for 80 percent of tenants, a measure framed as support against relentless increases in housing costs. But fresh data suggest the policy has had the opposite effect, especially in the already strained student rental market. Figures from property platform Spitogatos show that average asking rents for student housing rose by 6.6 percent in July and August compared with the same months last year. The timing of the increase, coming directly after the subsidy announcement, highlights how the measure was interpreted: landlords, confident that tenants now had a financial cushion from the state, raised their demands rather than easing them. In practice, the €230 million program has functioned less as protection for renters than as a guarantee of...