Greek Property Owners Prefer Tourists to Tenants

Lykavitos Hill, Athens. Photo © Maria Theofanopoulou

At the prospect of making an added 50 or 60 euros a day, Greek property owners are preferring to lease to tourists instead of long-term tenants as more and more are joining sharing economy platforms such as Airbnb and Home Away.

The increasing demand and resultant prospects are seeing more owners chose to rent out their properties short term to tourists and make a living rather than have to deal with the possibility of tenants not having the money to pay their rent on time or at all.

According to the data released by Airbnb for March 2016, there are currently 30,000 homes up for rent reaching more than 50,000 across Greece on other platforms and recording a 135 percent increase compared to last year.

According to market insiders, the boom is a result of a “favorable” amendment made to the legal framework last November which allowed the lease of a property to third parties without requiring Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) certification as long as the duration is under 30 days.

The potential is so great for the Greek market that new companies are now emerging offering management services of properties and doing all the prep work to include them in online vacation rental platforms.

Greek authorities meanwhile are urging hosts that all properties leased must be declared to tax officials, while tourism sector professionals are ringing alarm bells stressing that tax evasion from the practice has thus far amounted to over 300 million euros annually.