Greece plans to introduce restrictions on short-term rentals

What has happened

The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced some upcoming changes in the short-term rental market. In an interview he gave to Sky TV, citing a large shortage of properties available for long-term rentals, he also mentioned that "we will open more apartments... but this requires a lot of study and additional measures beyond what we have already done – and regarding the issue with Airbnb as well".

The three main changes the Greek government is considering as a response to the housing crisis:

• Obtaining a “golden visa” should be associated with the mandatory disposal of real estate only for long-term rentals in areas that experience housing pressure and a lack of supply. If it is determined that such a property is available for short-term rental, the Golden Visa will be cancelled.
• There will be a certain limit on the duration of short-term rentals per year depending on the area. First of all, the government wants to ban short-term rentals of more than two properties per one income earner. Secondly, the rental period for each property should not not exceed 90 days per calendar year, and for islands with a population of less than 10,000 inhabitants – no more than 60 days per calendar year.
• Each municipality should determine the maximum number of properties available for short-term rentals.

When are the expected changes due?

The described changes in the short-term rental market are expected to come into force in autumn 2024.

The background

The number of properties available for short-term rentals is estimated to be as high as 11,000 in Attica alone, while there are 140,000 properties available for short-term rentals throughout the country.

According to a study by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, in 2022 there were 215,000 registrations on online platforms such as Airbnb in the country (from 195,000 in 2019 and only 95,000 in 2016), and there were 129,000 registered properties (from 117,000 in 2019 and 57,000 in 2016).

The size of the sharing economy, including short-term rentals, had reached €3.37 billion in 2022, up from €2.9 billion in 2019.

Source: Philenews

Photo by Mac McDade on Unsplash

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