To reduce the increasing housing costs, the government’s financial staff will extend the limitations to short -term leases by the end of 2026, with the extension of the measure to new areas in downtown Athens under consideration.
The financial staff is extended at a time when real estate prices are rising rapidly and real estate availability for long -term lease is constantly decreasing. The lifting of the restriction, however, would cause a new wave of increases in rent prices.
The freezing of new apartments for short -term leasing in downtown Athens is one of the intentions of the Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis. This measure has been implemented as early as January 2025 and prohibits the issuance of new real estate registration numbers for the area, and will remain in force until the end of 2026.
It is worth noting that the financial staff awaits data from all major cities to evaluate the need for further measures.
In 2024 there was an increase in short -term demand, with overnight stays amounting to 14.1 million in 2024 compared to 12.1 million in 2023 and 9.9 million in 2019, recording a 42% increase in five years.
The number of overnight stays in Greece accounts for only 9.2% of total overnight nights in our country in 2024 (152,335,543 overnight stays, according to Eurostat), but the contribution of short -term lease to the rise of tourism is evident.
Based on the planning of the government, the expansion of Airbnb leases for 2026 in downtown Athens in the areas:
- 1st Municipal District: Plaka, Kolonaki, Koukaki, Syntagma, Omonia, Monastiraki, Exarchia, Ilisia, Neapoli
- 2nd Municipal District: Metz, Neos Kosmos, Agios Artemios, Pagrati
- 3rd Municipal District: Botanical, Metaxourgio, Gazi, Petralona, Rouf
At the same time, the Ministry of Finance and AADE are planning in -depth inspections of short -term lease owners to determine one. They will also be searched for rented real estate and which have not acquired a registration number, that is, they are undeclared.
The aim of the government is to solve the housing problem by increasing the supply. Specifically, Mr. Pierrakakis said the previous days that the housing problem would be largely addressed by the increase in supply.
This means that additional incentives will be given to both natural persons to open closed apartments and legal entities. Especially for legal entities (banks and services), the government will proceed with immediate solutions to “fall” about 25,000 properties on the market.