Seasonal workers or short-term guests? What changes for a landlord

Three ways to let the same home

Most comparisons you'll find are two-way: Airbnb or a long-term lease. On an island or in a resort town there's a third option that rarely comes up:

• Short-term lets to visitors, with many short stays over the season.
• A season-long let to someone working locally, at a hotel, restaurant or beach bar.
• A year-round lease to someone who lives in the area.

Article 111 of Law 4446/2016 defines a short-term rental as one that lasts less than 60 days. Recruvo's “Find your Home” takes “Stays of 60 days or more only”, so no stay there falls within that definition. The second option isn't a variation on the first; it's a different kind of lease.

What short-term letting asks of you

AADE, the Greek tax authority, lists a set of obligations in its guide to short-term rentals for whoever manages one:

• Registering the property in the Short-Term Stay Property Registry, which gives you a Property Register Number (ΑΜΑ).
• Showing that number prominently on every digital platform and every other place you advertise the home.
• Filing a Short-term Accommodation Declaration for each stay, not once a year.
• Finalising the registry entries every year, and reporting the income in your tax return.

AADE also notes that if you offer services beyond bed linen along with the stay, the property is treated as a tourist accommodation and needs a business registration.

Beyond the paperwork there is the day-to-day work: cleaning and fresh linen after every departure, a key handover for every new guest, answering messages, reviews, prices that move with demand, and empty nights between bookings. Either you do that work or you pay someone to.

What changes with one tenant for the season

In AADE's FAQ, a lease of 60 days or more is not short-term: it is now considered long-term and is declared with the ordinary lease declaration on myAADE, the same one every landlord files. In practice that means:

• One lease and one declaration for the season, instead of one declaration per stay.
• One key handover at the start and one at the end, instead of dozens over the summer.
• A predictable season: you know from the start who is staying and until when.
• Someone who lives in the home, looks after it the way people look after their own place, and knows they'll still be there next week.

The trade-off is that the dates are fixed. If you were counting on a week in August for family or friends, that week is gone. For what you declare and how, see our guide to the lease and the lease declaration.

What the place gains too

Every summer the Greek business and local press reports on islands where housing runs short as homes turn into holiday lets. Seasonal workers turn down jobs because they can't find anywhere to stay, and teachers and doctors posted to islands face the same problem. The Ministry of Tourism has even looked at housing public-sector staff in hotels' staff accommodation.

We don't mention it to make you feel guilty: the home is yours and so is the decision. It's still part of the picture. A home let for the season keeps a kitchen, a bar or a front desk running in the place you live, and the shops and businesses around you need those staff.

How to decide

Rather than a ready-made answer, ask yourself these questions:

1. How much time do you have? In season, short-term letting is close to a second job unless you pay a manager.
2. Where is the home? A place near hotels and restaurants is exactly what someone working there is looking for.
3. What happens in winter? If you want the home for yourself off-season, a season-long let ends when the season does.
4. One tenant or many guests? Some owners prefer one arrangement for the whole summer, others prefer the turnover.
5. Thinking of a mixed calendar? AADE says the same property can be let both short-term and long-term, with each lease treated according to its length. How that works in your case is a question for your accountant.

If you choose someone working the season

On Recruvo it takes three steps:

1. Create the listing: List your home with at least 5 photos and the minimum stay that works for you. The Recruvo team reviews it before it goes live.
2. Answer requests: people browsing Find your Home send a booking request, and you get a reminder to answer within 48 hours. Your exact address and contact details stay hidden until you accept a request.
3. Agree the lease directly: rent and deposit are settled between you and the tenant, and the booking page lists your myAADE obligations.

If your business has a staff house standing empty, tap “Publish as home” next to it and its photos and description carry over to a new listing. For the full details, see our guide to renting to seasonal workers, and if you're hiring too, the guide to hiring seasonal staff.