The Greek government is bringing in new measures that could limit the availability of short-term holiday rentals, leading to fears it could push up holiday costs. 

The move is supposed to reduce the high number of short-term rentals that have saturated the country’s housing market, but it could affect those letting Airbnb and other short-term rentals to holidaymakers in coastal areas.

The focus will initially be on saturated urban areas on the mainland, but it can be extended to the Greek islands so popular with British tourists.

The plan, designed to free up housing stock for Greek citizens, includes a temporary freeze on new short-term rental permits in neighbourhoods exceeding five percent of the total housing stock.

It is a shift from previously proposed caps on the number of rental days, such as a 90-day limit, which has now been set aside. The five percent figure means it could potentially affect major tourist areas once the pilot has been rolled out.

Greekcitytimes.com reported: “The new plan will involve restrictions that are tailored to specific neighbourhoods, with data being analysed down to the zip code level.

“This approach aims to balance the presence of short-term rentals with long-term leasing options more precisely.

“For instance, if short-term rentals dominate in areas like Koukaki and parts of central Athens or Thessaloniki, new permits will be restricted to prevent further saturation.”

According to finance reporter Stelios Kraloglos, even the first area affected could include coastal zones including Thessaloniki with its pure white sands.

Writing for newmoney.gr, he said: “According to this scenario, in areas such as Koukaki and other points in the centre of Athens, in the southern suburbs, especially in the coastal zone, in Thessaloniki etc, a ratio, a ‘fraction’, will be created between the short-term and long-term leases.

“If this fraction is reversed to the detriment of long-term leases, then the brakes will be put on new permits, that is, new AMAs for short-term leases. 

“That is, the temporary freezing of licenses will not be done as a whole at the level of the municipality, but in sections within the municipality itself, depending on the data that will emerge each year from the review of the ratio.” 

This initiative is part of a strategy to address Greece’s housing issues, set to be unveiled by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Thessaloniki International Fair.

It reflects an approach to regulating the short-term rental market while encouraging the availability of rental properties for long-term residents.

While tourism in Greece remains a key industry, locals in certain areas are complaining about the negative impact overtourism can have on their communities. Among the issues named more often by people who have been protesting mass tourism in recent months around Europe is the rising of housing prices, believed to be pushed up by an increase in the demand for holiday lets. 

France24 previously reported that the success of the tourist industry was making it difficult for local Greeks to keep up with surging housing prices. Residents, the report said, cannot keep up with property prices, which sees more than 40 percent of their disposable income being spent on housing – more than in any other European country.

In April, huge graffiti appeared on buildings in Athens, with some reading anti-tourism slogans including, “Tourists Go Home! Greek State Kills”, “No Tourists No Hipsters” and “Burn Airbnb”.