Short-term rentals beat hotels on beds
The government will adopt a wait-and-see attitude this year in order to assess the effects of the newly legislated framework on the short-term residential rental market.
The aim of the legislation is to mitigate the effects on the long-term rental market in order to ease the challenges not only of finding available rental properties – apartments and houses – for public officials, students but also households, but also at affordable rates. The first signs are already encouraging, according to real estate sources, who note the return of some properties to the conventional rental market.
Restrictions on short-term rentals came into effect at the start of the year. In particular, the way that those who own more than two properties in this market are taxed has been drastically changed. The expectation is that many landlords will withdraw their properties from this market and return to long-term leases, increasing supply to levels that can meet the demand that exists nationwide. It is an imbalance that has led to very high rents.
The issue also has a serious social impact, something that was also reflected in a recent large survey carried out by Pulse for Kathimerini. On whether Greek citizens are concerned about the effect that short-term housing leases have on the urban and social fabric of Athens, six out of 10 answered that they are concerned, with 35% answering “yes” and an additional 24% answering “probably yes,” against 23% who said “probably not” and only 10% “no.”
As Deputy Finance Minister Haris Theoharis tells Kathimerini, “the market will need time to digest the new regulations and the government will monitor these developments in order to determine whether the goal is being achieved.”
In other words, no additional intervention in the market is expected in the medium term. In the meantime, however, the latest figures show that the available short-term rental beds are now more than hotel beds, making it clear that the Greek tourism product is now served by both of these categories.
According to the Annual Greek Tourism Report of the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE), in July 2023 Greece had 212,199 short-term rental accommodations with 392,118 rooms and 939,167 beds. Meanwhile hotels, which number 10,087, have 443,835 rooms and 885,624 beds.
