Anyone buying property in Greece and planning on renting it out to holidaymakers would do well to acquaint themselves with the Greek law concerning the EOT or ‘Elliniko Organismo Tourismo’ licence, especially given the cash-strapped Greek authorities are clamping down heavily on rented properties that are not licensed.

EOT licenses provide a valuable income stream, one that the government will be pursuing assiduously in these tough times as they attempt to collect monies due from issuance of the EOT, fines for those in contravention of the law and tax on the rentals paid. It is said that home rental advertisements are being scanned by government officials in order to track down miscreants – be warned!

In order to legally rent out your Greek property in the short term, i.e. under three months, you must conform to a number of requirements and obtain an EOT licence from the Greek National Tourist Organisation. Property rented out in the long term, that is over three months to the same person, is not classed as a holiday rental and the EOT licence is not a requirement. It is worth mentioning however that it is still obligatory to declare any income for long term rentals on your annual Greek tax return.

To see a range of properties in Greece, on the mainland as well the islands, visit the Greece listings on Rightmove Overseas. Anyone who needs to transfer money to complete a property transaction in Greece should use a currency specialist to exchange their pounds into euros. For more information, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Greece, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Greece Property Buying Guide’