The beneficiaries of the student housing allowance are being expanded according to observations by the Ombudsman for proper implementation of the legislation. Specifically, the Citizens’ Ombudsman has been handling cases for years involving students who saw their applications for housing allowance rejected because they did not reside in the same city where their university department was based, but in an adjacent municipality.
Student housing allowance: Which beneficiaries are affected
Characteristic examples included cases of students studying in University of Patras departments based in Aigio who chose to live in the city of Patras, or cases of students living in Kozani while attending departments based in Ptolemaida, etc. Although it was obvious that these students had settled in Patras or Kozani because of their studies and that it involved rented housing in a city other than their main residence, meeting the two prerequisites set by law, nevertheless these students were excluded from student housing allowance beneficiaries based on circular instructions from the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports in 2018, according to which the rental had to concern property in the same Kallikratis municipality as the student’s city of studies.
The Citizens’ Ombudsman had pointed out to the competent Ministry that, until the addition of the circular’s requirement for renting property in the same Kallikratis municipality, the aforementioned students normally received the housing allowance, since according to guidelines provided by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, residential lease contracts were accepted even outside the city of study, within a distance of up to forty (40) kilometers from the center of the city where the School or Department is based. The Ombudsman had additionally emphasized the practice contrary to the concept of good administration of “clarifying” the law for the worse through circulars and had asked the Ministry to reconsider the restriction of students’ legislatively secured rights, as such a narrow interpretation did not serve the legislator’s declared purpose of supporting economically weaker students, in order to make it feasible for them to pursue their studies in a city other than their permanent residence. Already, with the circular issued by the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports for granting housing allowance for the 2024-2025 academic year, the Citizens’ Ombudsman’s position was fully adopted for non-exclusion of students who rent housing in another municipality within the same Regional Unit where the Higher Education Institution Department they attend is based.
