Greece's Proposed Portfolio Golden Visa: Multiple Properties Tied to Long-Term Rental
DRAFT POLICY · NATIONAL HOUSING STRATEGY 2026–2035
Quick answer: Greece's National Housing Policy Strategy 2026–2035 proposes a new Golden Visa category that would let a foreign investor qualify by acquiring a portfolio of several properties rather than a single asset. The condition is explicit: those properties must be placed exclusively on the long-term rental market within a set period, with short-term (Airbnb-style) letting and the investor's own use excluded. The aim is to pull vacant and underused housing stock into the rental market. IMPORTANT: this is a proposal, not law in force — the core parameters, including how many properties, which investment threshold and the minimum lease term, have not been defined.
What is being proposed
Today's Golden Visa logic rests on a single investment: buy a property that meets the threshold (or a limited combination that meets it together) and attach the residence permit to it. The proposed model changes that logic. An investor could build a portfolio of several properties — but the portfolio would function not as a home or a short-let business but as long-term rental supply.
The state's reasoning is straightforward: steer Golden Visa capital towards solving the housing crisis. The standing criticism of the programme is that foreign capital removes homes from the market and converts them into short-term lets or idle assets. The proposal tries to invert that: let the capital come, but make it produce rental supply.
The core conditions
Portfolio: the ability to acquire more than one property instead of a single asset.
Exclusively long-term rental: properties must be placed on the long-term rental market within a predetermined period.
Short-term letting excluded: Airbnb-style platform letting is explicitly ruled out.
No owner occupation: the investor is not expected to occupy the portfolio properties.
Eligibility and monitoring: clear eligibility criteria plus a mechanism to monitor how the properties are actually used.
Target stock: activation of vacant or underutilised properties.
Where the proposal comes from
This is not a free-standing idea — it sits inside Greece's ten-year housing plan.
Item | Detail |
Document | National Housing Policy Strategy 2026–2035 |
Owner | Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family; approved by the Governmental Housing Policy Committee |
Status | Published in the Official Gazette; opened to public consultation |
Scope | 50 measures in total — 36 already applied or initiated, 14 new |
New measures | 10 of immediate priority, 4 with a longer horizon |
Budget | over €6.5 billion |
So the portfolio Golden Visa is one line item in a broad package. Two things follow: the government's intent is serious rather than incidental; and not all 50 measures will move at the same speed — no timetable has been published for this one.
Today's model versus the proposal
Aspect | In force today | Proposed portfolio model |
Number of properties | Single-asset logic (threshold-driven) | A portfolio of several properties |
Use | Investor may occupy it or let it long-term | Long-term letting only; owner occupation not envisaged |
Short-term letting | Prohibited under Law 5100/2024 | Explicitly excluded |
Target property type | Open — mostly residential | Vacant / idle stock, buildings suitable for conversion |
Oversight | Fine and risk of permit loss on breach | Plus a use-monitoring mechanism |
Status | In force | Proposal — parameters undefined |
It is worth restating the current rule: short-term letting of a property acquired under the Golden Visa is already prohibited by Law 5100/2024, carrying a €50,000 fine and, in serious cases, loss of the residence permit. The short-let ban is not the new part — what is new is building a portfolio option around that ban.
Which buildings are in play
The strategy does not publish a list of qualifying buildings, but market sources are clear about where interest would go: the target is not new luxury stock but convertible idle assets.
Vacant or underused homes — the category the strategy names explicitly.
Office buildings and abandoned commercial centres, converted into rental apartments.
Industrial buildings with residential conversion potential.
Heritage and protected buildings that restoration could bring into the rental stock.
This mirrors the logic already present in the €250,000 special case of current Golden Visa law, where change of use and restoration are encouraged with a lower threshold. The portfolio model can be read as an attempt to scale that incentive.
What has not been defined
This is the most honest section of this guide. The following are decisive parameters for any investment decision, and none of them has been announced. Treat any source quoting firm figures on these points with scepticism.
How many properties? No maximum or minimum portfolio size has been stated.
Which threshold? Whether the category gets its own investment threshold or uses the existing €800,000 / €400,000 / €250,000 tiers is unclear.
Minimum lease term? How many years "long-term" will bind for is undefined — and it is the single parameter that will most directly shape the return calculation.
How long to place them on the market? Properties must be let "within a predetermined period"; the length of that period has not been published.
How will monitoring work? Which authority runs the mechanism, and the penalty for breach, are unresolved.
Timetable? No enactment date has been announced following consultation.
Why now
Two pressures are working at once: the housing crisis, which is the strategy's reason for existing, and the programme's own performance.
Indicator | Value | Period |
New Golden Visa applications | 2,551 (down 44% year on year) | H1 2026 |
Permits issued | 9,479 | 2025 |
Total permits issued | 26,109 | 2019–2025 |
Thresholds where applications concentrate | €250,000 – €400,000 | H1 2026 |
Applications at the €800,000 tier | minimal | H1 2026 |
The table shows a programme that lost volume after the 2024 threshold increases — particularly at the €800,000 tier that covers Athens. The portfolio model attempts two things at once: open a new route into the programme, and condition that route so it adds housing supply.
Two opposite signals, arriving together
This is the tension an investor should not miss. In September 2026 the Greek government sent two property signals pointing in opposite directions:
Signal | Direction | Who it hits |
Transfer tax up from 3% to 15% for non-EU buyers (1 January 2027) | Deterrent — multiplies the cost of entry roughly fivefold | All third-country buyers |
Portfolio Golden Visa tied to long-term rental (proposal) | Incentive — opens a route to acquiring more properties | Investors willing to produce rental supply |
Read together, the message is actually coherent: Greece is not shutting foreign capital out, it is channelling it. Buying that removes housing from the market becomes expensive; buying that creates rental supply gets a new door.
One critical question is unanswered: would the portfolio category be exempt from the 15% transfer tax? No such exemption has been announced. Without one, the portfolio route is attractive in theory but must be modelled carrying a 15% tax charge — which will largely determine how appealing it turns out to be. How these two measures intersect is the single most important thing to watch in the months ahead.
What it means for investors
Do not decide today — prepare today: the model is not law. But the property type that would benefit is already identifiable: homes that let easily and hold a long-term tenant.
The return model changes: with short-term letting closed off, the model favours stable urban rental stock over high-gross-yield holiday property.
Liquidity behaves differently: selling a portfolio bound by lease commitments is not the same as selling a vacant apartment. Think the exit through from the start.
Management is a real cost: several rented apartments means property management — collection, maintenance, tenant turnover, tax filings. Put it in the model.
Model the tax side separately: rental income is taxable in Greece, and it is a larger line in a portfolio than in a single asset.
The transfer-tax window is a separate matter: while the portfolio model is pending, the announced date for the 15% transfer tax is 1 January 2027. The two calendars are not the same.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Is this model open for applications now?
No. The proposal sits within the National Housing Policy Strategy 2026–2035 and is at the public consultation stage. No enactment date has been announced. Applications today follow the rules currently in force.
How many properties could I buy, and what is the minimum lease term?
Neither parameter has been defined. The strategy refers to the ability to build a portfolio and to properties being placed on the long-term rental market "within a predetermined period", but it does not state a property count, an investment threshold or a minimum lease term. Be cautious with any source that quotes firm numbers.
Could I or my family use one of the portfolio apartments?
The proposal excludes that: properties are to be placed exclusively on the long-term rental market, with the investor not occupying them. If you need personal use, the portfolio route and the conventional Golden Visa route need to be evaluated separately.
Is short-term letting really closed off entirely?
For Golden Visa properties, short-term letting is already prohibited under Law 5100/2024, with a €50,000 fine and, in serious cases, loss of the residence permit. The proposed portfolio model keeps that ban and adds a use-monitoring mechanism on top. The direction is tightening, not loosening.
Sources: National Housing Policy Strategy 2026–2035 (Εθνική Στρατηγική για τη Στεγαστική Πολιτική 2026-2035), Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family — public consultation text (opengov.gr) and the approved strategy published in the Official Gazette; 50 measures (36 applied or initiated, 14 new: 10 immediate priority plus 4 longer-term), budget over €6.5 billion. · Reporting on the portfolio Golden Visa category: Newsit (19 June 2026), Oikonomikos Tachydromos (ot.gr, 1 September 2026), In.gr, Protothema, HuffPost Greece. · Golden Visa volumes: 2,551 new applications in H1 2026 (−44%), 9,479 permits in 2025, 26,109 in total 2019–2025. · Short-term letting ban and penalties: Law 5100/2024. · Transfer tax comparison: Prime Minister Mitsotakis's TIF 2026 announcement (6 September 2026). IMPORTANT: the portfolio model is a proposal; core parameters including property count, investment threshold, minimum lease term and timetable are undefined. This is general information, not legal or investment advice.
→ Let's discuss which property types would benefit if the portfolio model becomes law, and how to position a purchase you make today: realestate@avla.com.tr · +90 532 282 2657
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