“What’s harder to find — a rabbit on the beach or a home under €500?” asks Dimitris Koutsoumpas, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), in a TikTok video that has drawn attention to the housing crisis and the mounting cost-of-living pressures on Greek households.
A Humorous Yet Pointed Critique
In the clip, Koutsoumpas uses irony and satire to underscore how government policies are failing ordinary citizens. He accuses the current administration of waging a so-called ‘war against inflation’ — one that ultimately places the heaviest burdens on working people, while offering little more than a ‘friendly pat on the back’ to those who profit daily at their expense.
Housing as a Human Right, Not Real Estate
Koutsoumpas links soaring rents, unaffordable mortgages, and shrinking purchasing power directly to political choices — not bad luck. He highlights how, for many, salaries run out by mid-month; how rent or loan payments consume most of their income; and how everyday decisions come down to stark trade-offs like “refrigerator or fuel tank.”
Citing KKE-referenced data, he notes that in Attica, rent or mortgage payments for a typical two-bedroom apartment (up to 60 sqm) can absorb up to 70% of the average monthly wage — and for a three-bedroom unit, the figure climbs as high as 93%, once utility bills are included.
Call to Action: A Rally for the Right to Housing
Koutsoumpas invites the public to a KKE-organized event on Wednesday, 3 July, at 8 p.m., in Plateia Plyta in Athens’ Pagkrati district. The rally, titled The Right to Housing, aims to reframe the conversation: not about bricks and cement, but about dignity and survival.
“Housing is not real estate — it’s life,” he states. “The question remains: profits or our lives?”
The event will focus on whether young people and workers can live with autonomy — rather than spending their entire income just to keep a roof over their heads.