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Greece: The Greek government has announced a ban on new short-term rental licences in three central Athens districts from 1 January 2025 for at least 12 months.
Olga Kefalogianni, the Greek tourism minister, has said that the licensing ban in the three districts, believed to be the first, second and third municipal districts of Athens, could also be extended beyond the initial 12-month period due to “a lot of pressure on society”.
In addition, finance minister Kostis Hatzidakis has confirmed that a daily tax on short-term rentals will rise from €1.50 to €8 between April and October 2025 and from €0.50 to €2 for the winter months. The tax was put in place originally to help Greece manage the impact of climate change-related natural disasters.
The announcements in Athens come amid a string of measures being introduced by the Greek government aimed at addressing the impact of overtourism in certain areas of the country, including a lack of housing and the rising cost of living.
The government’s strategy includes a temporary freeze on new short-term rental permits in neighbourhoods where STRs exceed five per cent of the total housing stock. It marks a shift away from previously proposed caps on rental days, such as the 90-day limit, which has been scrapped.
The new plan will involve restrictions that are tailored to specific neighbourhoods, and aims to balance the presence of short-term rentals with long-term leasing options.
Measures to incentivise long-term rentals are also being considered, including tax exemptions for property owners who transition from short-term to long-term leases. Homeowners who make their properties available for long-term rental for at least three years could receive a three-year exemption from income tax, provided their properties were either vacant throughout 2024 or previously listed for short-term rentals.
Greece welcomed a record 36.1 million visitors in 2023, while arrivals soared by 16 per cent to 11.6 million in the first half of 2024. Current figures indicate that the country’s revenue from tourism will rise to €22 billion this year, up from €20.6 billion in 2023, according to the tourism minister.
Such is the growing demand for tourism in Greece, the government is additionally planning to impose a €20 levy on cruise ship visitors to popular islands such as Mykonos and Santorini.
