Tourism in Greece has been doing extremely well in 2024, and hopes are justified that this will continue or even improve in 2025.
The Greek government is (rightfully) all excited about it, but of course the issue of overtourism is always there, so a balance must be found that allows to accomodate the hordes of tourists and at the same time keep life affordable for residents.
Countries all around the mediterranean have already failed to achieve this, and ours is definitely not doing better.
Politics are now focusing on regulating the short term rental market. To achieve that a new law (number 5170) has been put in force. Unfortunately, this law is not only an example of sloppiness but also misses the goal by a long shot.
Part A) of the law 5170 deals with short term rentals, so let’s look at what this means to home owners who want to (or already do) rent out their place on a short term basis:
Article 3.1.a):
“they (the properties) are areas of primary use … and have natural lighting,ventilation and air conditioning,”
OK, so you are not allowed to rent a hole in the ground without a window. Fair enough. But what does ventilation imply? An open window? A fan in the corner? They probably didn’t know themselves.
And what does ‘air conditioning‘ exactly mean? One unit for the whole place? And if so, in which room? Or one in every room? And if so, does that include the toilet?
You already see what I mean with “sloppiness”, right?
Article 3.1.b)
“have insurance against civil liability for damages or accidents that may be caused”
I do hope you all have that already, if not go and get one. Doesn’t cost the world. You don’t want to pay forever for someone who broke his neck on your stairs.
Article 3.1.c)
“have a responsible declaration from an electrician, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, a leakage relay or anti-electric shock relay and escape signs”
Read this twice. Yes: Escape signs. When you rent out a one-bedroom apartment an escape sign has probably not been high on your shopping list. But it is the declared goal of our government to make the tourists feel safe here. And your life hell, too. So go and get that escape sign before they sell out and stick it over your front door….
Chances are you already have a certificate from an electrician (in case you just bought the property you should), if not any electrician will be happy to take your money, and a fire extinguisher in Greece can always be put to good use.
Article 3.1.d)
“they have a certificate of myocide and disinsectisation, a pharmacy with first aid supplies, as well as a guide with emergency telephone numbers.”
Personally, I am all fine with the first aid kit, and a guide with phone numbers can’t hurt either.
But please don’t ask me about that certificate. How often is this to be done? Once every year? After each guest party? And where is the list of myocide experts who are actually entitled to issue such a certificate? What if my house is on an island where there is no such a person?
It’s beyond sloppiness. Issuing a law like this is just cheeky.
Especially since
“In order to verify compliance with the specifications of paragraph 1, on-site checks are carried out in the area leased and declared on the special platform of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (A.A.D.E.) by employees of the Ministry of Tourism and at the same time an audit crews may be carried out by mixed audit crews with employees of A.A.D.E. and employees of the Ministry of Tourism for the simultaneous determination of compliance with the applicable tax obligations”.
Means the Ministries of Tourism and finance are sending their joint forces to spoil your day, and woe to those who don’t comply with these new rules (and who can, given the above?)
There’s a fine of 5000 EUR for violations which is doubled if another inspection is carried out within one year and the problems persist. And quadrupled each time afterwards.
In the end, somebody must pay for all those competent lawmakers.
As you can see, this law has been written by the hotelier association to deter private home owners from renting out their properties.
It totally forgets that not all Greece is Mykonos. Here on Samos the municipalities complain that there are not enough beds to accommodate all the tourists, and private long term rentals are still quite easy to get by.
Imposing extreme charges (as introduced last year) and implementing rules that nobody can follow even if he wants certainly won’t help the development of smaller tourist destinations.
Effectively, it will contribute to keeping the tourism concentrate in few places where high rents can be charged and sufficient infrastructure exists.
But be that as it may – we all now have to deal with it.
The law is already in force. They love giving people no time to prepare here.
So what can you do?
You can choose to ignore it completely and hope there will be no inspections.
You may be right, probably inspectors will swarm the more prominent destinations. Bigger, headlines, you know?
But eventually they will come to Samos, too. And any other rock reachable by ferry.
Not only that: not complying as good as we can puts us at the mercy of malicious neighbours who can blackmail us at any time.
I recommend to at least try to stick to the law as much as you can and hope for the best. Most of these rules are not that hard to follow and those that are… well, I bet there will be an avalanche of court cases concerning this law simply because it is badly written, so time will tell.
Good luck to all of us.
