Lodging

International short-term rental platform Airbnb has called on the mayor of Barcelona to reconsider extending the measure to restrict short-term rentals, arguing that they benefit the hotel industry while failing to address over-tourism and the housing crisis.

The lack of a correlation between the unprecedented rise in international visitors arriving at the airport and hotel occupancy rates in Antalya stems from 15 percent of foreign tourists opting to stay in lodging utilized for tourism, a sector representative has pointed out.

If you’ve entrusted your property to a third party for Airbnb management, you might be wondering who holds responsibility for tax compliance, which tax bracket applies to your income, and when the property becomes subject to VAT.

Major shake-ups are on the horizon in the short-term rental market, following the government’s decisions to move forward with further regulation, aiming both to align as far as possible the obligations of those offering properties through short-term rental platforms with those who own hotels or rooms for rent and to curb oversupply in order to stimulate the long-term rental market.

From January 1, 2025, new restrictive measures for Airbnb properties will take effect (including a freeze on new licenses in Athens’ 1st, 2nd, and 3rd districts). The three-year tax exemption for closed properties, however, begins today and will be available until the end of the following year.

The urgent need to address the acute problem of homelessness is driving the government’s decisions from September onwards. The primary goal is to free up homes from Airbnb and incentivize long-term rentals to help young couples struggling to find accommodation.

The government is considering a series of measures in order to increase the supply of properties for long-term rental, including higher taxes and interventions to contain short-term rentals and the number of vacant houses.

The number of short-term rental accommodation units has grown in most areas of Attica, as the arrival of summer has brought new properties to digital platforms, despite the government measures taken at end-2023

Short-term rental accommodation in Greece is showing diametrically opposite trends at the moment, depending on the location. Based on the latest data, the superiority of Athens compared to the rest of the country is quite evident, as in the capital there is a clear upward trend, while in the rest of the country it is the opposite.

The turnover generated by the accommodation of guests in short-term rental accommodation has increased significantly compared to previous years and is now approaching 30% of the turnover made by hotel units.