Following the recent restrictions regarding the ban on new Airbnb licences in specific areas, shortly before the close of 2025, the government announced new measures for short-term lets as part of a broader effort to tackle the housing crisis.
These measures aim to address the acute shortage of available rental properties and the issue of ever-increasing rents.
Given that short-term letting is now considered part of the problem, the government is proceeding with new restrictions. The goal—at least in theory—is to return more properties to the long-term rental market.
What are these restrictions?
Firstly, the restrictions already in place in Athens regarding new Airbnb licences are now being extended to Thessaloniki. The aim is to limit the over-concentration of short-term rental properties in already saturated urban areas.
However, a new and significantly stricter restriction, which had not previously been applied even in Athens, concerns the transfer of properties currently operating as Airbnbs.
In the event of a property transfer (sale) that is currently rented out via short-term letting, the property is automatically removed from the Short-Term Accommodation Register. For the time being, this removal applies to areas where a ban on new licences is already in effect.
This provision fundamentally changes how short-term letting is viewed as an investment activity. For the first time, the right to exploit a property via Airbnb does not accompany the property upon transfer but is automatically revoked.
In practice, this means new owners will not be able to continue short-term letting activities in restricted areas, even if the property was operating legally up to the moment of transfer. Through this method, the government is attempting to create a mechanism for the gradual decompression of the short-term rental market without imposing immediate horizontal bans.
The big picture of the new housing framework
Interventions in the short-term rental market are part of a wider package of housing measures that combines restrictions with financial incentives.
The package includes:
- Extensive home renovation schemes. The platform for the ‘Renovate 2026’ programme is expected to open in February. It provides a subsidy of up to 90% with a cap of €36,000 for properties with planning permission issued before 31 December 1990. This covers plumbing and electrical upgrades, as well as energy efficiency work.
- Targeted interventions for public servants. Approximately 50,000 public sector employees (medical staff, teachers) living outside major urban centres will receive an annual rebate equivalent to two months’ rent.
- Conversion of buildings. State and municipal buildings in mountainous and island regions will be converted into housing for public servants.
- Utilising inactive buildings. Incentives for private investment to transform inactive and abandoned buildings into residences.
- Long-term lease incentives. Investors can construct or utilise existing buildings for long-term rental housing, provided they offer low rent and a contract duration of at least ten years.
Will these new measures work?
Whether these new measures will yield results in practice remains an open question. The experience of recent years suggests that the housing crisis cannot be solved in isolation; it requires a combination of regulatory interventions, incentives, and, above all, time.
What is certain is that short-term letting is moving into a strictly regulated phase, with rules that are gradually reshaping the landscape for landlords, investors, and tenants alike.
