Dense apartment blocks beneath Lycabettus Hill in Athens. Photo: Marylinalcyonova / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Housing Drives Almost 40% of Greek Inflation as 1% Stay Levy Is Proposed

12 Nov 2026, 22:36 by Stella Mazonakis · Greek City Times

Housing accounted for almost 40 per cent of Greece’s 5.7 per cent annual inflation in October, official figures show, as the government moves to let municipalities raise the levy on tourist stays, including some short-term rentals, to 1 per cent.

Housing adds 2.2 points to inflation

According to the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), the housing group, which covers rent, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, rose 15.1 per cent year on year in October and contributed 2.2 percentage points of the 5.7 per cent rise in consumer prices. That is about 39 per cent of the total.

Energy did most of the work. Electricity rose 17.9 per cent and added 0.71 points to the index, heating oil rose 37.5 per cent and added 0.56 points, and natural gas jumped 80 per cent, adding 0.40 points. Residential rents rose 6.8 per cent over the year, adding 0.30 points, and 1.3 per cent in October alone.

ELSTAT’s figures follow October’s jump in Greek inflation from 5 per cent in September. Eurostat’s flash estimate had put Greece’s harmonised inflation rate at 5.6 per cent, with full EU data due on 18 November.

Financial newspaper Oikonomikos Tachydromos noted that support measures, such as the annual refund of one month’s rent of up to €800 for a main residence, plus €50 for each dependent child, ease part of the burden but do not act as a brake on rents. The same housing category rose 14.2 per cent in Belgium, 10.8 per cent in Cyprus and 8.6 per cent in Slovenia in October, the paper said.

Accommodation levy to rise to 1% where councils choose

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the levy change at the annual conference of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) in Kalamata, as part of a “6+2” package of measures for local government. According to government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, it includes raising the municipal stayover levy, known as the τέλος διαμονής παρεπιδημούντων, from 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent “for those who choose to do so”.

Under current law, the basic rate is 0.5 per cent of the value of the stay, and councils can lift it to 0.75 per cent. The new rate will need legislation, and no start date has been set, To Vima reported. On a €100 stay, the levy works out at 50 cents at 0.5 per cent, 75 cents at 0.75 per cent and €1 at 1 per cent.

Who pays on short-term rentals

Since 1 January 2024, the levy and 13 per cent VAT have applied to short-term rentals operated by companies and by individuals with three or more properties, who must now run them as a registered business, according to the government’s housing policy portal. Individuals renting out one or two properties without carrying on a business are not liable under the current rules.

That means the higher rate would also reach those short-term rental businesses in municipalities that adopt it, the Short Term Accommodation Management Association, STAMA Greece, said.

Responding to a letter from the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (POX), STAMA rejected what it called an unjustified distinction between “legal accommodation” and short-term rentals, saying legality depends on following the rules, not on the type of stay. It said it supports checks on all forms of accommodation, but called for dialogue, the publication of levy receipts by category, and transparency on what municipal revenue pays for before any new charge.

Hoteliers and the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) have also opposed the proposed 1 per cent rate, warning of a growing tax burden on accommodation providers.

Sources: ELSTAT, https://www.statistics.gr/el/statistics/-/publication/DKT87/2026-M10; Oikonomikos Tachydromos, https://www.ot.gr/2026/11/11/oikonomia/akinita/stegasi-oi-enisxyseis-den-frenaroun-tis-ayksiseis/ and https://www.ot.gr/2026/11/10/oikonomia/akinita/telos-parepidimounton-antidra-o-stama-stin-ayksisi-sto-1-aixmes-kata-ton-ksenodoxon/; Hellenic Government, https://www.government.gov.gr/enimerosi-ton-politikon-sintakton-ke-antapokriton-xenou-tipou-apo-ton-ifipourgo-para-to-prothipourgo-ke-kivernitiko-ekprosopo-pavlo-marinaki-83/; To Vima, https://www.vimaonline.gr/ellada/telos-parepidimounton-1-poioi-plironoun-kai-ti-allazei/; Housing Policy Portal, https://stegasi.gov.gr/programs/epivoli-fpa-13-kai-telous-parepidimounton-stis-vrachychronies-misthoseis-akiniton/; Eurostat, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-euro-indicators/w/2-04112026-ap

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