Can You Let Out a Greek Golden Visa Property on Airbnb?

No, not if it is the property your Greek Golden Visa depends on. Since April 2024, Greek law has barred owners from letting these homes short term on Airbnb and similar sites, or subletting them. Break the rule and your residence permit is revoked, and the owner is fined €50,000. You can still let the home to a tenant on a longer agreement.

The ban is in Article 100 of Greece's Migration Code (Law 5038/2023), as amended by Law 5100/2024 on 5 April 2024. The Ministry of Migration and Asylum explained how it applies in Circular 9/2024. It covers British buyers in the same way as anyone else from outside the EU, and in August 2026 UK nationals held 840 of the 26,690 first-time investor permits in force. If you were counting on holiday bookings to pay the running costs, the sums need redoing.

What exactly does the law ban?

A property bought to obtain or renew a Greek Golden Visa may not be used for short holiday lets, which the law calls short-term letting in the sharing economy, and it may not be sublet. Homes bought through the €250,000 route for commercial buildings converted to homes have one further limit: they cannot be used as a business's office or branch.

The same article starts from a general permission. It says that owners from outside the EU may let their property, and the ban then takes short lets and sublets out of that permission.

What counts as a short-term let?

A short-term let is any letting of under 60 days where you provide nothing beyond the accommodation and bed linen. It makes no difference whether the home is advertised on a platform or booked privately. That is the definition in Greek law on short-term letting (Article 111 of Law 4446/2016), which Circular 9/2024 applies to Golden Visa homes.

A week or a fortnight booked through Airbnb, or directly with you, is therefore caught. A let of 60 days or more is outside the definition. So is letting to a tourism business for its trade, where the operator provides more than a room and linen; the circular's example is a hotel.

What happens if you let it on Airbnb anyway?

Your residence permit is revoked, and a separate administrative fine of €50,000 is imposed on the owner. The amount is fixed in the law, whatever the rent earned, so even one summer of holiday lets could cost you €50,000 and your permit. The Ministry's circular describes the consequences as revocation or non-renewal of the permit, plus fines.

Can you let it to a tenant instead?

Yes. The law allows owners from outside the EU to let their property, and the circular says the ban does not cover long-term lets. Any let of 60 days or more where you provide only the accommodation falls outside the short-let definition, so an ordinary tenancy to someone living in the home is allowed. That covers a typical six- or twelve-month let.

The circular gives one more lawful option: letting the home to a tourism business, such as a hotel operator, that uses it for its trade and provides services beyond a room. Homes bought through the €250,000 conversion route cannot be let this way, because they may not be used as a business's office or branch.

A tenancy is therefore the lawful way to get an income from the home while you are in the UK, although the home is not free for your own holidays while a tenant lives there.

Does the ban apply if you bought before April 2024?

No. According to the Ministry's circular, homes bought under the rules in force before 5 April 2024 are outside the ban. So are purchases completed in the transitional period that followed. That period was open to buyers who had paid a 10% deposit and signed a dated preliminary contract by 31 August 2024, and it ran until 31 December 2024.

For contracts signed from 1 September 2024 there is no transitional relief, and the full price must be paid before you apply. If your purchase straddled these dates, ask your Greek lawyer to confirm in writing which rules your application comes under before you take any short bookings.

How long can you stay, and do you have to live in Greece?

A Golden Visa runs for five years and is renewed for the same period while you still own the property. Time spent outside Greece does not prevent a renewal. Without a permit, a British passport holder may spend up to 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area, which includes Greece.

According to UK government travel advice, days spent in Greece on a residence permit do not count towards that 90-day limit. The permit does not allow you to work in Greece: the Ministry's procedure notes say investor permits "do not establish a right of access to any form of employment".

Note too that if you sell the home to another buyer from outside the EU while your permit is valid, the buyer can apply for a permit and yours is revoked at the same time.

How is rent from a Greek home taxed if you live in the UK?

Rent from a property in Greece counts as income arising in Greece, so Greece taxes it even if you live in the UK, on the same basis as for people living in Greece. If you are UK resident, HMRC normally taxes your overseas rental income as well, and you may be able to claim relief for the tax already paid in Greece.

The UK and Greece have a double taxation agreement, in force since 1954. If you stop being UK resident, HMRC's guidance says you do not pay UK tax on foreign income. Greek rates and allowances change with each budget, so get current figures from a Greek accountant before you work out whether the rent will cover your costs.

Where are the new-build projects that meet Golden Visa thresholds?

We list 37 new-build projects in Greece as of 13 October 2026. By region, 25 are in the €800,000 Golden Visa zone and 12 are in the €400,000 zone. In both zones the investment must be a single property, and a property that is already built, or has a building permit, needs at least 120 m² of main living space.

The zones come from Article 100: Attica, the Thessaloniki regional unit, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with a population over 3,100 are in the €800,000 zone, and the rest of Greece is in the €400,000 zone. The zone tells you the threshold, not whether a particular flat qualifies, so check the size and price of each flat. The full list is on our Greece new-build projects page, where each project has a button to request current prices.

For the €250,000 conversion route, the full cost of buying and the steps from the UK, see our Greek Golden Visa guide for UK buyers.

Who should think twice before using the Golden Visa route?

The ban mainly affects buyers who want holiday bookings to pay for a second home. If you will live there for long spells, or are happy with a tenant while you are away, it matters far less. It applies only to homes bought to obtain or renew a Golden Visa, so a buyer who does not need the permit is outside it. If you are still weighing Greece against other countries, our comparison of North Cyprus, Dubai and Greece for UK buyers sets the three side by side.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put my Golden Visa property on Airbnb?

No. A home bought to obtain or renew a Greek Golden Visa may not be let short term or sublet. The penalty is loss of the permit and a €50,000 fine.

Can I let it for three months?

Yes. A let of 60 days or more, where you provide only the accommodation, falls outside the short-let definition, and the law allows owners to let their property.

Does the ban cover private bookings, not just Airbnb?

Yes. The definition applies whether or not the home is listed on a platform.

I bought before April 2024. Does the ban apply to me?

According to the Ministry's Circular 9/2024, no. Homes bought under the earlier rules, or completed within the transitional period that ended on 31 December 2024, are outside it.

Do I have to live in Greece to keep the permit?

No. The permit is renewed every five years while you own the property, and time spent away from Greece does not prevent renewal.

Can I work in Greece on a Golden Visa?

No. The permit does not allow you to work in Greece.

Sources

We read the legal texts and official pages below on 13 October 2026. Project counts are from our own listings on the same date.

• Golden Visa rules, the short-let ban and the €50,000 fine: Law 5100/2024, Article 64 (Government Gazette A 49, 5 April 2024), which replaced Article 100 of Law 5038/2023.
• Scope of the ban, the 60-day definition, older purchases and the transitional period: Circular 9/2024, Ministry of Migration and Asylum.
• No right to work: National Registry of Administrative Public Services, procedure notes for investor permits.
• Permits held by UK nationals: Ministry of Migration and Asylum, legal migration bulletin, August 2026.
• Greek tax on rent for people living abroad: Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).
• UK tax on overseas rent: HMRC, Tax on foreign income; UK-Greece double taxation agreement.
• Visitor days and permits: UK government travel advice for Greece.
• Projects: Greece new-build projects on satisofisi.com, counts as of 13 October 2026.