Wednesday, October 27, 2021

CHANGES ARE COMING FOR AIRBNB SIGNUPS

 Filenews 27 October 2021 - by Adamos Adamou



The registrations of premises in the register of self-catering accommodation of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism may have started encouragingly and without problems in the summer, so that from February of next year the owners can now make them available by law for short-term rentals on various online platforms of the "Airbnb" type, but the continuity of registrations seems to be done with obstacles.

Specifically, as was evident from yesterday's statements by MPs of the Energy Committee of the House, there are several complaints from owners of premises that will not be able to secure the relevant permission from the Deputy Ministry of Tourism in order to be able to legally continue to have an extra income from the disposal of premises they have, mainly in the countryside and in mountainous areas. As mentioned by the member of the AKEL, Kostas Kostas, and by other members of the Committee, there are several premises that are quite old, especially in the mountains, and which are almost impossible to secure a final building permit as required by the legislation for registration.

In addition, as the Deputy Minister of Tourism himself, who was present at yesterday's meeting, mentioned, it is not possible under the legislation as amended for the creation of the registry to register residences with more than five rooms.

It is noted that according to the amendment made to the Regulation of the Establishment and Operation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation Law, the accommodations that can be registered in the relevant register of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism must have a maximum capacity of 4-5 bedrooms.

This provision, as revealed yesterday by one of the rapporteurs of the law proposal that regulated the issue in early 2020 Elias Myrianthous, was made after discussion with hoteliers so that various buildings cannot be converted into self-catering accommodation and compete unfairly with the industry.

The Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios did not rule out, however, a change of this provision in order to find a reasonable number of rooms that does not cause inconvenience, essentially giving the green light for changes of legislation to the Energy Committee, which as he assured yesterday and through its president Kyriakos Hatzigiannis will proceed to the submission of law proposals for amendments in order to facilitate the registration process in the registry of the Deputy Ministry.

This is expected to happen soon as the "deadline" of those interested in registering expires on February 7, 2022.

In the meantime, the Deputy Minister of Tourism acknowledged yesterday the problem that arises – again after the remarks of AKEL MP Costas Costas – with the increases that have occurred in the fees for the renewal of licenses and classification for various tourist accommodations such as for traditional tourist buildings, based on the latest decree of the Minister of Energy. As Mr Costas denounced yesterday, the three-year renewal of a permit for traditional tourist buildings now stands at €455 for three years, just as for five-star hotels. Mr. Perdios acknowledged the problem and also revealed that the deputy ministry disagreed with the new fees but the Treasury as he said did not allow changes. In view of this, the Secretary of State agreed with the will of the members of the Energy Committee for changes on this issue as well.