Stama (Association of Short-Term Rental Property Companies) sent a memorandum to the government expressing its opposition to the Ministry of Tourism’s draft law that places restrictions on the use of short-term rental property.
The bill on the specifications introduced in short-term rental excludes properties that changed their use staus after 2011. The Association explained the problems that this will cause and requested the abolition of the provision in question.
Stama’s stance on short-term rental provisions:
Honorable Prime Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen Ministers,
With this memorandum we express our strong opposition to the provision that excludes from short-term leasing properties that changed use after 2011 and we request its complete abolition.
We apply extra emphasis on the specifications in Article 3 relating to short-term rental properties which states:
Properties that are leased short-term, in accordance with article 111 of the law 4446/2016 (A’ 240) meet the following specifications:
a) they are areas of primary residential use of par. 95 of article 2 of law 4067/2012 (A’ 79) and have natural lighting, ventilation and air conditioning.
The new provision contains various technical specifications mainly for residences offered for short-term rental, the most restrictive of which is the formal characterisation of the space in which they are located, as primary residential use, i.e. it must have been included in the building detail from the beginning, or the use of the space must have been legalised under the provisions of Law 4495/2017, which, it should be noted, expires on 31.03.2026, with the basic condition that the change of use must have taken place by 28.07.2011.
We believe that this provision raises several issues such as:
1. Unconstitutional Interference with Business Freedom
This specific provision:
- Directly violates Article 5 of the Constitution on economic and professional freedom
- Forcibly reverses the investment planning of thousands of owners who invested based on the existing legal framework
- Creates unfair discrimination between properties, based solely on the timeframe of change
2. Devastating Economic Consequences for business and its implementation will result in:
- Depreciation of investments of millions of euros in property renovations and upgrades
- Significant reduction in state tax revenues
- Discouragement of future investments in upgrading the building stock
- Loss of jobs in the short-term rental sector and related sectors
3. Practical Impossibility of Alternative Utilisation for the specific properties:
- They have been converted at significant cost to serve exclusively as short-term rentals
- They are unable to function as conventional residences due to design
- They contribute to the upgrading of degraded areas
- They are models of urban regeneration
Our main request:
We demand the immediate and complete abolition of the provision that excludes short-term rental properties that have changed useage after 2011.
Because this provision:
- Is unconstitutional
- It discourages entrepreneurship
- It reduces public revenues
- It discourages investment
- It undermines urban regeneration
Stama’s proposals
Instead, we propse:
- Maintaining the existing rules for all legally licensed properties
- Establishing incentives for further upgrading the building stock
- Creating a framework for cooperation between the state and entrepreneurs in the short-term rental sector
Its sanctioning will result in the retroactive disuse of accommodations in which money and work have been invested and which have been legitimised on platforms for many years, while possessing all the other quality characteristics. Moreover, this provision excludes a large number of available spaces in professional office buildings and industrial spaces in the center of Athens and other large cities, which have sat vacant and abandoned for years and were never even used for housing at any point. These properties were renovated in order to be available for short-term rental, contributing to the aesthetic upgrade of degraded, former industrial areas!
For this reason, this particular specification should be abolished.
We remain at your disposal for a constructive dialogue that will lead to solutions for the benefit of all without exclusions.
Best regards,
The Board of Directors of STAMA Greece
