For the first time in Greek data, the right to exploit an apartment is recognized and judicially protected, through short-term rentals like Airbnb. The widespread dissemination of the new form of short-term urban leases, through special digital platforms, has recently sparked a heated debate about whether such contracts conflict with the provisions on the permitted use of apartments, according to the law and regulations of each apartment building. For quite some time, there was no clear position of the jurisprudence, as a result of which confusion prevailed and friction was created between the owners, who rented out their properties in this way, and the other co-owners of the apartment building. The few decisions that had been issued were exhausted in interpretations of the apartment building regulations, which were drawn up 50, 60 and 70 years ago!!! Thus, it was misguidedly trying to interpret a new sophisticated lease model, in the terms and spirit of the 1960 legislature!! Provisions of regulations, therefore, which prohibited the use of apartments as boarding houses, hotels, boarding schools, clubs, etc. were being cut and sewn to accommodate new hires through digital platforms. All this reasoning failed to consider and take into account the spirit of the modern legislator, who with quick reflexes, listened to the need to evolve the lease regime.
In at a time when property ownership became unaffordable and prohibitively expensive, the only solution for owners not to lose their properties was to regulate the ability to rent out their properties on more flexible terms, for a few days or weeks, without qualifying the property as tourist accommodation. In this way, an income could be guaranteed to the households, which would primarily cover the cost of ownership and would also generate an additional income!
Resounding answer to the theories about tourist accommodation comes for the first time to give the court decision no. 1259/2019 of the Single-Member Court of First Instance of Athens, rejecting a lawsuit against an apartment owner, who leases it to a short-term rental management company. The decision dismissed the related lawsuit and all of its requests, creating a strong and thorough legal avenue through which to give breathing space to owners involved in similar disputes (judicial and non-judicial). The decision, which the property owners had been waiting for for about a whole year, comes from Athens and concerns an apartment building in the area of Victoria Square, which is leased to a short-term rental management company. This is the first ever decision, which justifies and protects the right to exploit a property, through short-term Airbnb-style rentals and indeed under the special condition, where the property is an apartment building and is subject to the provisions of horizontal ownership. The Judge, with responsibility, legal consistency and social empathy, did not get drawn into the well-trodden path of interpreting provisions of previous decades and focused exclusively on the essence of Law 4446/2016 and its subsequent amendments. Besides, it is perfectly reasonable that the legislator of the 1950s and 1960s could not anticipate, during the legislative process at the time, the modern need to regulate this parameter of urban leases as well!
It is acknowledged first of all, therefore, that based on article 111 of Law 4446/2016, as amended by article 36 of Law 4465/2017 and as finally replaced by article 84 of Law 4472/2017, ” the economic exploitation of an apartment through short-term leases, concluded through digital platforms for a period of less than a year is legal”. As well as that “with the provision of par. 4 of sub. A3 of article 2 of Law 4336/2015, the provision of article 2 par.1 of Law 4276/2014 was repealed from 1-11-2015, according to which a property that was rented out for the tenant’s temporary residence for a period of time shorter than of thirty days was considered “tourist accommodation” with the result that apartments leased with short-term leases are not considered tourist accommodation and are differentiated from “furnished rental apartments” which constitute non-main hotel tourist accommodation, according to article 1 par. 2 approx. of Law 4276/2014 and do not have to meet the conditions of Law 4276/2014…”. As for the claims of the co-owners about burdening the common areas, the noise and the possession of keys by an indefinite number of people (apart from the fact that these are essentially unproven claims), they are all debunked without exception, mainly as unproven, but also because it was not proven that the short-term lease was in itself an aggravating circumstance for the image and security of the apartment building.
According to the judicial decision, it is not possible to prohibit or even limit the use and exploitation of properties through short-term rentals, due to isolated incidents or because it is arbitrarily assumed that temporary residents are misusing common areas. Indicatively, it is worth highlighting points from the rationale of the decision that prove that short-term leases are the new form of urban lease and should not be treated differently from classic leases.
So one of the frequent complaints of the co-owners is the burden of the building’s elevator by the temporary residents. The decision categorically rejects the claim, with the reasoning that especially in apartment buildings (such as the one in question) that house business premises (law offices, medical practices, etc.), a large number of customers who use the elevator enter every day, with the result that it is not possible to attribute any damage or wear and tear on short term rentals. Besides, it should be proven that during the leases in question, the elevators (especially in the center are more than 50 years old!!) were more damaged than usual.
In addition, there is often talk of a feeling of insecurity as the keys to the apartment building are in the hands of an indefinite number of people, as well as the fact that numerous groups of mainly young people (10-15 people) often spend the night in the apartments. On this the decision answers as follows: The frequent change of tenants in the short-term rental apartments and the possession of the keys are among the main characteristics of platform rentals, “which has apparently been taken into account by the legislator who recognized by law this way of exploitation , among other real estate and the apartments, and cannot simply lead to a ban on the exploitation of the disputed apartment in the specific way”. As for the number of people living in the apartments, the decision states verbatim “…there is no maximum number of residents per horizontal property set by the regulation of the apartment building, but neither by law, either for permanent or temporary residence, so that this figure alone makes the use of the apartment contrary to the regulation or the law”.
Finally with regard to disturbing the peace, at the discretion of the Judge, isolated incidents cannot be considered as sufficient incidents of continuous and intense nuisance to the co-owners, which would constitute a violation of the apartment building regulation. In any case, it does not mean that the exploitation of the property is prohibited because once or twice incidents of nuisance have occurred. time Judge looks with awareness and bravery at the situation and the surrounding climate. Outdated concepts and interpretations of 60- and 70-year-old legislation and acts are thrown out of the system itself as their application becomes more difficult and inappropriate day by day. At the same time, with the legal framework and judicial thinking, the decision in question seems to come directly from the center of developments, giving the real image of a building, of a neighborhood and not theories and assumptions.
Especially the apartment buildings in the center of Athens, have their own composition and a very distinctive footprint. 1950-1960 apartment buildings, where half the apartments are commercial, in run-down, high-crime neighborhoods can’t afford the obvious wear and tear, noise, dirt and increased insecurity of Airbnb-style rentals!! It should not be considered that the temporary resident pollutes the apartment building and burdens the use of the elevator, when dozens of clients of the owners who maintain offices in the building come and go every day and when there is more than usual the image of drug addicts in the entrances and common areas of the downtown buildings. ..
