Filenews 25 May 2025 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
Increasingly, tourists choose to use self-catering short-term rental accommodation (apartments or residences) during their holidays.
In Cyprus, according to data cited by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism in a letter sent to the Parliament, the total number of accommodations in the free areas of the Republic of Cyprus offered for short-term rental purposes is estimated to be between 12 and 13,000.
According to the law, entrepreneurs and managers may advertise or rent self-catering accommodation, provided that they are registered in the registers of self-catering accommodation and have received a registration permit and a registration number from the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, which must be indicated in the advertising and/or promotion of the accommodation, as well as in all relevant transactions.
According to the register of self-catering accommodations, a total of 8,375 accommodations have been registered, offering a total of 36,784 beds.
1,565 applications pending
Also, the procedures for the licensing of another 1,565 accommodations are underway, of which 952 requests have been handled and the submission of additional documents and data or the payment of relevant fees by the applicants is expected.
The remaining 611 applications are at the stage of initial study and evaluation. It is worth noting that the number of licensed accommodations, along with the accommodations that have applied to the Deputy Ministry of Tourism for licensing, is estimated to exceed 10,000.
Citizens "book" accommodation through the various platforms such as Airbnb and Booking, which must be registered in the relevant register in advance and at the same time pay the relevant taxes.
The registration of accommodations in the register of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism began in July 2021 and within almost four years their number reached 8,375.
Continuous increase
However, from the data forwarded to the Parliament, it seems that the number of self-catering accommodations has increased sixfold, while most of them are located in Paphos and the Free Area of Famagusta.
In detail, until May 16, 2025, a total of 8,375 accommodations had been registered in the register, offering a total of 36,784 beds. In particular, in June 2022, the number of Airbnb-type accommodations registered with the Deputy Ministry was 1,545 with 7,138 beds, while in November of the same year the number of registered accommodations rose to 2,333 with 10,996 beds.
In April 2023, the number increased further to 4,765 and the number of beds doubled, rising to 21,636. The following year, the number of self-catering accommodation rose to 7,001 and the number of beds to 31,470, while in September of the same year these increased to 7,626 and the number of beds to 34,076.
This year, in February the number of accommodations increased to 8,292 and beds to 36,866 and by May the number of accommodations reached 8,375 and beds to 36,784.
Paphos and Famagusta are first
According to the data of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, almost half of the self-catering accommodations are located in Paphos, followed by Famagusta and Larnaca. Paphos and Famagusta hold 67.5% of the pie in the market.
Specifically, in Paphos there are 3,957 accommodations registered in the register with 17,802 beds, in Famagusta the number of accommodations is 1,702 with 8,728 beds and in Larnaca there are 1,237 accommodations offering 4,682 beds.
In Limassol, the number of accommodations is 1,076 with 4,068 beds and in Nicosia there are 403 accommodations offering 1,504 beds.
Complaints and audits by the Tax Department
At the same time, during the inspections carried out by the inspectors of the competent service, they have proceeded to 52 complaints about the operation/advertising of self-catering accommodations that were operating, without securing a registration permit from the Deputy Ministry of Tourism.
At the same time as the checks, the Deputy Ministry sends a relevant e-mail every 15 days, with all the relevant data, to all entrepreneurs whose registration permits for their accommodations are expected to expire in the next 70 to 90 days.
With the email, a reminder is made to entrepreneurs and they are invited to proceed with the renewal of their licenses.
Frequently, the Tax Department carries out audits to determine whether the owners of the premises comply with their tax obligations.
Specifically, those who manage such premises will have to pay 9% VAT and declare and pay the income they have in income tax.
In addition to these, they will also have to pay an extraordinary defense contribution and the GHS.
New legal framework
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee on Trade is discussing the bill which will help strengthen the legislative framework governing self-catering accommodation and which includes provisions on the imposition of penalties.
The purpose of the European regulation is to establish uniform rules concerning the collection of information on short-term rental services in the European Union (through the online platform Airbnb)by requiring the competent authorities and the short-term rental platforms themselves to collect and share certain data, such as landlord number, landlord and accommodation details, etc.
If a Member State has a national system for registering short-term rental units, then it must apply the relevant provisions of the Regulation.
The main provisions of the Regulation relate to obligations to Member States (ensuring a secure registry), obligations to lessors of units (submission), obligations to competent authorities (verification of data) and online platforms (reporting to competent authorities).
It is noted that the Regulation has an application date of May 20, 2026. In detail, the bill requires accommodation managers and online platform providers to comply with the regulation.
In addition, the bill defines the Deputy Ministry of Tourism as the competent authority for the supervision of compliance with the data registration procedure set by the regulation and for the imposition of relevant sanctions in cases of violation.
Landlords will be obliged to register their properties on platforms, indicating their real registration number in the register and providing a series of information and data provided for in the regulation.
Platforms will have to submit aggregated data and data on the use of these properties to the national authority every month for large platforms and every three months for small ones.
At the same time, the bill provides for the imposition of sanctions, fines and penalties.
Also, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism is designated as the competent authority for supervising compliance with the data registration procedure set by the regulation and for imposing relevant sanctions in cases of violation.
