The Athens short-term rental freeze now runs to 2027. Here is what owners can still do.

By Joseph Kalaydjian, Founder & CEO, Cheez Hospitality

In September the government announced that the freeze on new short-term rental registrations in central Athens will run to 31 December 2027. A year ago it was a test. Now it is the market.

The freeze made one thing scarce: the short-term registration. It made another thing valuable: the stay that does not need one.

Where the freeze applies

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd municipal districts of Athens: Plaka, Monastiraki, Syntagma, Kolonaki, Koukaki, Exarcheia and the streets around them. The first district of Thessaloniki is under the same rule.

Inside those districts:

• No new short-term registration (AMA) can be issued. If your apartment does not have one today, it cannot get one while the freeze lasts.
• An existing registration keeps working, but under the rules for the frozen zones it does not pass to a new owner. On a sale, a gift or an inheritance it is deleted.
• Every short-term let, frozen zone or not, must meet the 2025 minimum standards: liability insurance, natural light, ventilation, minimum size. Fines start at €5,000 and double on a repeat, up to €20,000.

The line that matters: 60 days

Greek law treats a stay of up to 60 days as short-term. A furnished lease of more than 60 days is an ordinary residential lease. It sits outside the short-term regime: no AMA, no freeze, no short-term listing rules. It is declared to AADE like any lease and taxed as rental income.

Read the rule literally. One contract, more than 60 days. A 30-day stay extended by another 30 is two short-term stays, not one long one.

That is mid-term rental: furnished, two to twelve months, one contract per stay.

Who rents for two to twelve months

People who need a real home for a season, not a hotel room for a week:

• professionals relocating to Athens, and the companies moving them
• project teams, consultants and film and TV productions
• students, researchers and visiting academics
• medical staff, and families staying near a hospital
• embassy and international-organisation staff
• families between homes, after a renovation or an insurance claim

They want the same thing: furnished properly, bills sorted, a written contract and one person to call.

What mid-term earns

Less than a top short-term let, more than an unfurnished long-term lease, with far fewer turnovers. In our working model for one Athens apartment, gross rental revenue runs at roughly €18,000 a year short-term, €14,000 mid-term and €10,800 long-term. After costs, a well-run short-term let nets the owner roughly 20 to 30% more than a long-term lease. Not double.

Fewer turnovers mean fewer cleanings, less wear, a quieter building and neighbours who stop complaining. For a flat with no registration, mid-term is often the best answer, not the consolation prize.

Furnish once, rent three ways

The set-up for short, mid and long term is the same: furnish once, to the higher standard, and the apartment can move between tenures as the rules and the calendar allow. If your registration lapses, or you never had one, none of the work is wasted.

What you need to rent mid-term

1. A furnished home that is ready to live in, not a holiday flat with a kettle.
2. A written lease for every stay of more than 60 days, declared to AADE.
3. A deposit, a utilities clause, an inventory and a photographed condition report at check-in and check-out.
4. Someone who finds the tenants, checks them, runs the move-in, pays the bills and handles the move-out.

That fourth line is what we do.

Find out what your apartment earns

We visit, measure and give you the numbers in writing: what your apartment earns short, mid and long term, after every cost, and which one wins. The visit is free.

Get your free yield estimate or message the Athens desk on WhatsApp: +30 695 169 7229.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your property's position with your lawyer or accountant.

Designed Living. Operated by Cheez.