Short-rental limits coming
Consultation on the new zoning plan for tourism is expected to begin soon and to serve as the main instrument for imposing restrictions on the number of short-term rental assets.
For now, the exact content of restrictions is unclear, but the inclusion of a number of areas of Attica in the relevant provisions seems to be a harbinger of future developments.
Based on the draft law, one of the main elements of the new zoning plan provides for restrictions on the number of accommodations, depending on the hotel beds available. As the relevant regulation states, it will be foreseen to set “limitations on the number of sharing tourism spaces and simple rented rooms, as a percentage of the beds of the main tourist accommodation” in the “control areas” and in the “developed areas.” The latter concern Attica and Thessaloniki, given the shortage of houses to buy or rent and the housing crisis this has created.
Standing out in Attica among the “developed areas” are downtown Athens, Kallithea, Alimos, Glyfada, Moschato, Nea Smyrni, Palaio Faliro, Vouliagmeni, Nea Makri, Anavyssos and Piraeus, with 21,782 assets between them, according to AirDNA’s latest data. However the bulk belongs to the center of Athens with 16,900 accommodations, i.e. it has a share of 77.5% of the total, while the other 4,882 assets are located in all other regions. In fact, in some of them it is not clear where the interventions will be focused.
How the selection has been made has raised questions, both due to the low penetration of short-term rentals and the fact they are not areas with a deficit housing and high demand from long-term tenants.
Accordingly, the “control areas” include districts that are in very strong demand. In several, the phenomenon of shortage in housing for students or public officials is observed every year, so the search for solutions is now imperative. These are the municipal units Paralia in Pieria, Skiathos, Corfu, Zakynthos, Ermoupoli on Syros, Santorini, Kos, Mykonos, Afantou, Ialyssos and Kallithea on Rhodes, Tinos, Malia and Hersonissos in Iraklio, and Nea Kydonia in Hania.
