Greece announced a ban on new Airbnb’s for at least one year in central Athens to tackle the housing crisis.
The Airbnb market in Greece is blamed for spiking prices and drying up the market for long-term rentals. Many Greek households struggle to find properties to rent.
Golden Visa holders had scooped up multiple properties when the threshold for qualifying was only 250,000 euros ($270,272) and saw many put those out for nightly rentals.
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) that he would provide incentives to property owners to convert their properties into long-term rentals.
in a difficult balancing exercise, Mitsotakis stressed the need to put a brake on their uncontrolled spread, but without demonizing them, as he said.
The Airbnb ban will initially apply to three central areas in Athens, but Mitsotakis left open the possibility of extending the ban to other areas if “saturation” is found.
Areas in Athens where the new Airbnb ban is applied
Throughout the center of Athens (Koukaki, Thisio, Petralona, Pagrati) up to Neos Kosmos, the issuance of new licenses for owners who want to enter the short-term rental platforms stops for one year.
More specifically: The 1st municipal district of Athens that includes the center of Athens with the so-called commercial triangle (Stadion Avenue, Omonia Square and Plaka).
The 2nd municipal district of Athens which includes the SE districts from Neos Kosmos to the Panathenaic Stadium.
The 3rd municipal district of Athens which includes the SW districts of Asteroskopion, Petraloni, Metaxourgeio and Thision.
However, it is worth noting that those who choose to withdraw the properties from the short-term rental platforms or open closed properties and make them available for long-term rental, will be exempt from rent tax for three years.
Increase in the climate crisis fee for Airbnb, hotels
Airbnb will also face an increase in the climate crisis resilience fee. As announced to TIF by the prime minister, the fee increases (from April to October), proportionally, for hotels, accommodation and rental properties through platforms.
The fee is currently up to 10 euros per night. The revenue collected will go back to the local communities to better organize their infrastructure against the burden they receive every summer.
The Minister of State, Akis Skertsos, speaking at the TIF, referred to the major social issue that has been created around the world by short-term renting.
“Especially here we have the following problem coming out of a great recession. There is an imbalance in the supply and demand of real estate, while there are closed properties that the owners cannot renovate, which is why additional incentives will be given,” he noted.
“Today there are approximately 700 thousand closed apartments, with 400 thousand in Attica. We are also waiting for information from the services to have a complete picture”.
Related: Greece Considers New Restrictions on Airbnb-Type Rentals
