Cap announced on short-term rentals
Owners have until the end of 2024 to issue registration number in specific areas of central Athens
In a bid to tackle the housing problem, the government has set the deadline for issuance of an AMA (Property Registration Number) for properties located in the first three districts of the Municipality of Athens on December 31, 2024.
Starting on January 1, 2025, this will no longer be permitted, at least for a period of 12 months. The stated objective is to stop apartments from “bleeding” into short-term rentals, particularly in locations with a high property supply and a significant shift toward this type of activity.
The time frame allows property owners who have already started renovation and upgrading work on their properties to complete it without suffering financial loss, if their intention was to engage in short-term rentals.
The ban includes the most popular districts for short-term rentals in Attica, with a high concentration of accommodation and high demand.
It does, however, also contain regions with lower demand and penetration rates of short-term rentals, which may allow for a different approach after the first year of the ban. The Short-Term Accommodation Managers Association (STAMA), for instance, has recommended a post code-specific approach.
However, in the first phase, the ban on the creation of new AMAs will apply to areas such as the historic center, Koukaki, Plaka and Exarchia in the 1st Municipal District, Pangrati, Zappeio, Mets and Neos Kosmos in the 2nd, and Thiseio, Petralona, Metaxourgeio and Votanikos in the 3rd.
According to estimates, more than 12,500 short-term rental accommodation units were in operation in the center of Athens this summer. This amounts to around 1/10 of the number of closed apartments (100,000-120,000).
“We do not want to demonize this activity,” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
In the area including Acropolis, Plaka and Monastiraki, there are 2,440 units, 1,164 in Koukaki and 992 in Neos Kosmos, 918 in Exarchia and 807 in the area around Agios Konstantinos. These five districts are the most popular in terms of the number of accommodations.
For the president of STAMA, Nasos Gavalas, granting tax exemptions to those short-term rentals that are turned back into long-term rentals is not likely to have much impact.
“I estimate that about 5% of the current accommodations will return to long-term rental, but that would happen anyway, as so many return every year, either because they do not deliver the expected income to their owners, or because they themselves cannot cope with the time or physical effort of managing them,” he says.
