Plan to shield property owners from rent-shirking tenants
Seeking to encourage more owners to put their shuttered properties back onto the rental market, the government plans to set up a register of tenants who don’t pay their rent.
This way landlords will be able to avoid bad debtors, particularly those who have no intention of paying their rent from the outset, as it will have a function similar to that of the Teiresias register for banks.
“The details of tenants and their profile will be included, so it will show whether they have left unpaid rent to the previous owner, or whether they have left unpaid bills, in order for landlords to avoid them,” said Alex Patelis, chief economic adviser to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking to Skai TV.
Based on Patelis’ data, the number of closed/vacant homes is estimated at 700,000, while active short-term rental properties are seen at 100,000.
Since they make up a larger pool of properties, it follows that more emphasis should be placed there. This might increase the number of properties that are available and prevent additional rent hikes, which could result in price corrections.
A tender has already been launched for the creation of a private debt registry, with the aim of having a contractor by the end of the year.
It will provide for the creation of a database which will collect data from banks and suppliers on debts owed by individuals to individuals. These will include, for example, rent arrears to landlords (natural and legal persons), arrears to mobile phone companies and arrears to commercial companies selling products with installments.
The Finance Ministry will have access to this database in the first phase, but in the future it is expected that private individuals will also be allowed access to it, in order to check the creditworthiness of other individuals.
According to data from the Independent Authority of Public Revenue (AADE), in 2023, 3,100 landlords stated that they had unpaid rents totaling €10.1 million. However, in reality, the actual amounts could be far higher.
“In most cases, landlords prefer not to get involved with the bureaucracy that accompanies the declarations of uncollected rents and either choose not to declare them at all (especially if it is for 2-3 months), even though they will be taxed for some months for income they did not receive, or they declare their properties as vacant for that period,” says Stratos Paradias, president of the Hellenic Property Federation (POMIDA).
