Renting Out Your Villa In Crete And How To Get An EOT Licence

With the increase in independent minded tourists looking for tranquil holidays in idyllic locations the rental potential of villas in Crete has risen sharply. This makes your purchase of a villa in Crete a perfect investment. Whether you intend to cover the costs of the villa and/or your mortgage or to actually supplement your income, managed properly, your villa in Crete can do this for you.

However it is essential to obtain a licence from the Greek National Tourism Organisation, known as EOT in Greece, if you intend to rent your villa for periods of less than 3 months to various tenants. Rental periods of longer than 3 months to the same tenant are not classed as holiday rentals and it is not necessary to have an EOT licence but it is still necessary to declare your rental income on your yearly tax return.

The Greek National Tourism Organisation has strict rules with reference to the suitability of each property which ensures that tourists are not renting second rate accomodation during their stay in Greece. The standards for construction of villas in Crete and their swimming pools have to be met before the GNTO will issue a licence for the villa to operate as rental accomodation. For a list of our villas and apartments in the Rethymnon and Chania area of Crete that comply with current EOT design criteria please click here.

The process for the EOT licence can be lengthy and sometimes takes several months. At around 5,000 Euros it is quite a costly procedure and there is also the purchase of certain safety features to be considered that are not included in the initial price such as fire extinguishers, emergency lights, exit signs, pool depth markers etc. These added extras ensure that the buildings and pools meet safety standards. Once the licence is obtained it is valid for 5 years and the cost of renewal is minimal. For rental villas there is a key system in place similar to the star system for hotels. 1 key being the basic category for simple rented furnished accomodation while the highest category is for luxury villas.

The criteria for the approval of the EOT licence tends to vary over time and this is why it is necessary to appoint someone familiar with the procedure and fluent in Greek to do all the essential paperwork for you. Action Constructing can give you useful contacts with this in mind and also our qualified architects will be able to carry out some of the basic procedures for EOT licence application.

Below are some guidelines for the procedure required in order to obtain approval of an EOT licence for your villa in Crete:

As architects we can supply you with all the paperwork concerning the plans of your house. These have to be officially stamped and signed and then deposited with EOT who will arrange for one of their inspectors to visit your villa in Crete to check that the building exactly matches the plans. When the plans are approved a protocol number is issued. Then the next stage has to be completed and several certificates produced. These include a certificate from the local tax office confirming that the property owner does not have any tax debts and that his criminal record is clear. Water clarity and fire safety certificates also have to be produced.

It is recommended that the criteria for EOT are taken into consideration from the planning stage of your villa in Crete, but even then it is essential to remember that EOT often change the criteria without prior notice. This makes pre approval particularly difficult. Some important points include the fact that there is a minimum size allowed for the villa rooms, swimming pools should be no deeper than a certain depth and all properties and pools on a shared plot must be issued with an EOT licence regardless of whether all property owners actually intend to rent their Crete villas to holiday makers.

 Each application is considered individually and once the EOT licence has been issued then the villa owner is free to rent his villa without fear of legal repercussions.

Building Your Villa In Crete!