Latest / STR Unpacked / Shut Down by the Flat Downstairs
Transcript
- Ben: Good morning and welcome to your short-term rental bulletin on the 22nd of July. So, Greece, again, we're talking about Greece. They have just produced the ruling that I think every single European operator needs to be made aware of in some way, shape, or form. So, what's going on? An Athens court has banned an owner from letting his flat on Airbnb. Not the council, not the tourism ministry. The neighbors took him to court and won. It's a decision. From the Athens court of first instance and Greek media are calling it the first ruling of its kind. The building manager of a block in central Athens filed for an injunction against an owner running his apartment as a short let and the court sided with the building. But this is the detail of it. The court didn't ban shortlets in apartment blocks, it banned this one. Because this building's regulations explicitly restricted apartments to residential use and prohibited tourist exploitation, where a building's rules say nothing. Courts will judge case on actual nuance, right? So the enforcement threat is moving from City Hall to the building downstairs. Spain rewrote its horizonal property law to give communities a veto. Now Greek courts are enforcing building rules directly. Your license can be perfect, but your building constitution can shut you down. Before you sign that next lease or purchase, read the building's rule book like a contract. In Athens it now is one. That's your briefing and I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you for watching.