Law 5170/2025 — the new short-term-rental rules every owner should know.

If you list a property on Airbnb or any other short-term rental platform in Greece, the rules you signed up under in 2019 are not the rules you're operating under now. The legislative framework changed substantially in 2025, the enforcement window opened on 1 October that year, and the first wave of compliance audits has been running quietly through Q1 2026. The fines are not theoretical.

This article is the practical version of what your accountant or property manager probably hasn't fully briefed you on yet. It is not legal advice — speak to a licensed Greek lawyer about your specific situation — but it is an accurate map of what changed, what's enforceable now, and what the realistic next-step list looks like for an owner.

What changed, in one paragraph

Greece tightened its short-term-rental framework in response to two political pressures: housing affordability concerns in central Athens and Thessaloniki, and several high-profile incidents involving guest safety in unregulated rentals. The result is Law 5170/2025, which introduces minimum safety standards, mandatory insurance, formal property registration through the AADE tax authority, and a geographic freeze on new registrations in saturated districts. It also pre-positions Greece for an EU-wide registration mandate coming into force on 20 May 2026.

The four things you must have

For any property you list on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, or any other short-term-rental platform, four things are now legally required:

1. AMA registration with AADE

The Αριθμός Μητρώου Ακινήτων (AMA) is the property registration number issued by the AADE tax authority. You apply for it through the AADE digital portal, providing the property's ENFIA reference, the owner's tax ID (ΑΦΜ), and confirmation that the property is classed as "primary residential use." That last requirement is new in 2025 — properties classed as commercial or mixed-use no longer qualify for short-term-rental registration.

Once issued, the AMA number must be displayed visibly on every online listing for the property. Airbnb, Booking.com and the other major platforms now refuse to publish listings without one. Listings that exist without an AMA number are subject to platform takedown and a fine to the owner.

2. Civil liability insurance

Every short-term-rental property must carry a civil liability policy with a Greek-licensed insurer. The policy must cover injuries, property damage, and accidents occurring to guests during their stay. Minimum coverage levels vary by property size and capacity, but for a standard one- or two-bedroom apartment, the policies on the market are running €120 to €280 per year.

This is separate from your normal home-insurance policy. A standard home-insurance policy does not cover guests of a paid rental — it explicitly excludes commercial use. Without a civil liability policy in place, any injury claim by a guest goes to you personally.

3. Safety equipment

Every short-term-rental property must have, demonstrably installed and maintained:

• Fire extinguishers. One per 100 square metres, with current inspection sticker. Most one-bedroom flats need one; larger units need two.
• Smoke detectors. In every bedroom and in the kitchen. Battery-operated or hardwired both qualify, but tested working.
• Residual-current device (RCD) circuit breaker. Installed in the electrical panel by a licensed electrician. This is the device that cuts power when it detects a leak to ground — protects against electrocution. Older Greek apartments often don't have one.
• Natural light, ventilation, and air conditioning meeting basic habitability standards. Most modern apartments pass automatically. Older properties without windows in certain rooms, or without functioning AC, fail.
• Fire-safety signage in the unit indicating escape routes and the location of extinguishers.

A licensed electrician's certificate confirming the RCD installation is required. A copy must be available on request during an audit.

4. Documentation of all of the above

This is the part owners most often miss. Having the equipment is not enough — you must be able to produce the paperwork. That means: AMA registration certificate, current insurance policy document, electrician's RCD certificate, fire-extinguisher inspection records, and a property-condition log. During an audit, you have a short window (usually 10 business days) to produce this paperwork. Owners who can't, get fined.

The fine structure

Penalties under Law 5170/2025 scale with the violation:

• Operating without an AMA — €5,000 first offence, €10,000 second.
• Missing safety equipment — €5,000 per missing category, capped at €15,000 per audit.
• No civil liability insurance — €5,000, plus the cost of any actual injury claim falling to the owner personally.
• Repeat violations — €20,000 plus a temporary platform listing ban (typically 6 months) that, in practice, often becomes permanent because owners give up on re-listing.

Audits are triggered by guest complaints, neighbour complaints, platform reports, or routine selection. The audit team has powers to enter the property with 24 hours' notice during a registered guest stay. Audits in 2026 are running at roughly 8% of registered properties annually in Attica.

The central Athens freeze

From October 2025, new AMA registrations are suspended in the saturated districts of central Athens until 31 December 2026. The freeze covers:

• 1st Municipal District — Plaka, Monastiraki, Syntagma, Omonia, Kolonaki, Exarcheia
• 2nd Municipal District — Mets, Neos Kosmos, Agios Artemios, Pagrati
• 3rd Municipal District — Petralona, Thiseio, Gazi, Votanikos, Metaxourgeio, Rouf

If you already had an AMA for a property in these districts before 1 October 2025, your registration is grandfathered in. You can continue to operate. If you didn't, you cannot register a new short-term rental in these areas until at least 1 January 2027, and the freeze is widely expected to be extended.

From 1 March 2026, similar measures came into force in parts of Thessaloniki. Other tourist-pressure cities (Heraklion, Chania, Mykonos town) are expected to follow.

The May 2026 EU registration mandate

Separately from Greek law, from 20 May 2026 every short-term-rental unit anywhere in the EU must carry a unique registration number that's displayed on every platform listing. For Greek properties this requirement is satisfied by the AMA. For owners of properties in other EU countries, an equivalent national registration is required. The platforms enforce this — listings without a valid registration number get unlisted automatically.

What to do this week if you operate an STR

1. Confirm your AMA is current. Log into AADE's platform with your codes. If it expired or was never issued, start the process today.
2. Pull out your insurance policy. Confirm it specifically covers commercial short-term rental use, not just owner-occupier residential. If it doesn't, get a civil liability quote — €120–€280/year on the open market.
3. Walk the property with the safety checklist. Fire extinguishers (count and inspection date), smoke detectors (test by pressing the button), RCD breaker (look in the fuse panel, ask an electrician if you can't see it), fire-safety signage on the inside of the entry door.
4. Build a compliance folder. Either physical or digital. AMA certificate, insurance, electrician's RCD certificate, extinguisher inspection cards, photos of safety equipment in situ. Make sure it's accessible — yours and your accountant's both.
5. If you're in one of the central Athens districts and don't have an AMA — your route to short-term rental in 2026 is closed. Long-term rental or hold-for-personal-use are your options until the freeze lifts.

What we do for STR owners

We don't replace your Airbnb manager. What we do is the layer above them — verifying that the safety equipment is in place and current, that the cleaner is actually cleaning to standard, that the property is maintaining its asset value between guests, and that your compliance paperwork is complete and accessible if an audit happens. It's the documented oversight that protects both the property and your peace of mind.