Greece to Prohibit Golden Visa Properties from Becoming Airbnbs

by Nikos Krinis 22 March 2024

written by Nikos Krinis 22 March 2024 5 comments

Greek Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis announcing the changes to the Golden Visa program in Greece. Photo source: Finance Ministry

Third country nationals that buy properties in Greece through the country’s Golden Visa program will no longer be able to rent them as short-term rentals (STRs), according to the Greek Finance Ministry.

Presenting changes to the criteria for the Golden Visa program on Thursday, Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said the move was part of the government’s policy to limit the rise in real estate prices.

The new rules are expected to be effective as of March 31, once the Greek parliament passes the relevant legislation.

Greece’s golden visa program grants five-year residency rights to third country nationals who purchase property in the country.

The main changes to the program will include:

– the increase of the minimum amount a third national needs to invest in order to secure a residence permit in Greece, and
– the new rule that prohibits properties acquired through the Golden visa program from being leased as short-term rentals.

Golden Visa investment requirements rise

Photo source: European Parliament

Expected to be effective as of March 31, the changes to the Golden Visa program see the creation of two investment tiers with different minimum investment requirements for applicants, depending on the areas of interest.

Tier 1 – 800,000 euros
To obtain a property in popular areas such as Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and other islands with a population exceeding 3,100 residents, third country nationals will need to invest a minimum of 800,000 euros, up from 500,000 euros. (It is noted that the required investment amount in popular areas had previously doubled last August from 250,000 euros to 500,000 euros)

Tier 2 – 400,000 euros
To obtain a property in other parts of Greece, the minimum investment threshold will rise to 400,000 euros from 250,000 euros.

In both cases, investment is to be made in a single property of at least 120 square meters.

Exception

The current minimum investment limit of 250,000 euros will remain only for specific properties, regardless of the area they are located. This involves:

– investments in historic buildings, and
– buildings that have industrial use and are converted into houses.

Moreover, residence permits can be renewed for the same period of time (five years) as long as the acquired property remains in the ownership of the investor. If an investor sells the property then the Golden Visa (residence permit) is revoked.

Airbnbs: No more short-term letting of Golden Visa properties

Athens, Greece.

According to Hatzidakis, another main change to the program is prohibiting investors from renting out Golden Visa properties for the short-term.

“It will be prohibited to lease a property purchased with a Golden Visa through Airbnb… The aim is for investments to be made in high-value real estate and not residential homes,” the minister said.

He clarified that investors can rent out the buildings they acquire, but only for the long-term. In case of violation, the residence permit will be revoked and a fine of 50,000 euros imposed.

According to Hatzidakis, investor visa sales accounted for 7 percent of total property sales last year. Revenues from the Golden Visa program were around 2.5 billion euros in 2023 from investments and funds coming from abroad.

“Although capital is coming in from abroad, we are announcing regulations because real estate prices are going up… The aim is to direct investors to properties of great value,” the minister said.

According to data from the Immigration and Asylum Ministry, the majority of investors last year were from China, Russia, Turkey, and Egypt.

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Nikos Krinis

Nikos is Greek-American born in New York, USA, and has lived in Greece for over 30 years. He is the managing editor of Greece's leading monthly travel and tourism guide, the Greek Travel Pages (GTP) since June 2008 and of news site GTP Headlines since its launch in September 2012. Nikos has also served as international press officer for the City of Athens and for the mayor. He has a degree in Mass Media and Communications, specializing in Journalism. Nikos is a native English speaker and speaks Greek fluently.

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5 comments

Lee Joste 26 July 2024 - 17:39

Is there any clarification or interpretation of this law against short term letting?
What about existing investors. May they do short term letting eg Airbnb?
I will appreciate clearance on this as the law proposed this and has it been passed in parliament?

Chris M 9 April 2024 - 16:04

“……He clarified that investors can rent out the buildings they acquire, but only for the long-term………”

How do they define ‘long term’???? What is the minimum period of time that can be classified as ‘long term’?

Michael Grunstein 28 March 2024 - 16:14

An extremely bad and wrong decision and of course is against the law and constitution, especially if they apply it to people that already own an apartment there and there were no such restrictions when they bought it. Also the Golden Visa is under the investment law and when they grant you the golden visa cards is written clearly on it “Investor”. The definition of investor is to invest from his money in order to get profit and benefit from his investment. Renting his unit for short or long term is the decision of the owner himself only and not anyone else, as far that the unit keeps it character (residential).
Also with such a decision Greece will lose a great number of tourists/visitors that are planning a trip there as the hospitality shelters in Hotels is totally insufficient for the number of visitors visiting Greece and especially Athens. According to this fact prices of hotel rooms will reach very expensive rates a fact that will lead to much more expensive holidays and customers will redirect their interest to other countries with cheaper packages, especially in accommodation. Also this is an act of discrimination, between Greek citizens (that are allowed to rent their apartments for short term) and the legal residents holders of a golden visa, that will bot be allowed to do so.

Tania Kollias 6 April 2024 - 21:13

Investors don’t have the right to make their apartment in a residential building available for short term rental by using it as a hotel. There are also building bylaws prohibiting it for obvious reasons – because they are a security threat, a health threat, maybe a structural threat to the inhabitants if many changes are made and in older buildings the sound insulation is insufficient, as well as a nuisance, with key boxes, using residents as a concierge, garbage in common areas, graffiti in the elevator or corridors, noise and stress from not knowing who’s next and what from this parasitic, illegal, get rich scheme business. Neighbourhood has neighbours, not a tourist hotel. If they have the money they can go elsewhere, not our home, which is our sanctuary.

Carl simpson 26 March 2024 - 13:03

It’s the smaller Greek owned property’s being let out as air bnb that are the problem not the golden visa propertys the smaller local village air bnb properties need to be stopped.

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