Greek Property Owners Protest Law Forcing Airbnb Delistings on Transfer

Greece's property owners are strongly opposing a new government measure that would automatically delist properties from short-term rental platforms like Airbnb upon transfer. The Panhellenic Federation of Property Owners (POMIDA) issued a sharp protest against a provision in a draft law that mandates the deletion of short-term rental registrations if a property is sold, inherited, or gifted to family members within areas subject to temporary restrictions.

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the strong protest and complete opposition to the provision of paragraph 2Γ of Article 5 of the draft law, which provides for the automatic deletion of properties from the Short-Term Lease Registry in case of its transfer, even if it is carried out due to the death of the owner or their transfer to family members due to parental provision or donation, within areas where a temporary restriction applies.

POMIDA decries the rule as an "unprecedented attack" on Greek families and their property. The federation argues that the law unfairly penalizes families, particularly when properties are transferred through parental gifts or inheritances following a death. This automatic removal of rental rights, they contend, can destabilize household finances by eliminating a crucial, budgeted income stream.

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This regulation, from a social point of view, constitutes an unprecedented attack against the Greek family and its property, with literally disastrous consequences, as it even affects parental provisions and inheritances.

Economically, POMIDA warns the measure creates a "unprecedented distortion" in the Greek real estate market. They assert that arbitrarily removing a legal and productive economic activity simply because ownership changes diminishes the property's value and infringes upon citizens' property rights, as guaranteed by the constitution. The federation also points to a lack of administrative continuity, stating that rental permits are tied to the property, not the owner.

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from an economic point of view, it introduces an unprecedented distortion in the Greek real estate market, which strikes the hard core of citizens' legally acquired property rights and requires immediate revision.

Furthermore, POMIDA criticizes the move as an "unjustified and ineffective attack" on the short-term rental sector, predicting it will have no positive impact on the long-term rental market. They draw a parallel to Portugal's "Mais Habitação" package from 2023, which imposed strict regulations on short-term rentals with the aim of increasing long-term housing supply, but ultimately proved ineffective. The federation calls for an immediate revision of the proposed legislation.

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The arbitrary reduction of the value of private property: The commercial and usability value of a property is inextricably linked to its legal uses. For the state to suddenly deprive a property of an existing, entirely legal and productive economic activity because the owner has changed constitutes an indirect but clear restriction of the right to property (Article 17 of the Constitution) and unnecessarily degrades the value of the citizen's asset during the process of its sale.