The lease of real estate is divided into residential lease and commercial lease or commercial lease. The first concerns the letting of the property for the purpose of housing and accommodation of an individual, while the second concerns the letting of the property for the purpose of housing his business activity.
Lease of immovable property – residence
The lease of a property – a dwelling is usually a simple procedure but sometimes has many pitfalls. Unfortunately, some landlords for the sake of convenience use pre-printed leases or entrust the drafting of leases to the estate agents who found them the tenant instead of going to a property lawyer, resulting in many problems afterwards.
By law, the minimum residential lease is three (3) years. Practically this means that before the three years have elapsed, neither the landlord can demand that the tenant vacate the tenancy, nor can the tenant leave the tenancy without compensation, as he will be required to pay back any remaining rent until the expiration of the three-year term. Several times it happens that leases are drawn up with a lease term of less than three (3) years, without the necessary legal cover, with the result that both the landlord and the tenant are forced to abide by the lease agreement for its entire duration. The lawyers of our firm are able to inform you about all the legislation regarding the lease of a house, such as the reasons for terminating the lease, compliance with the required deadlines, consequences of non-payment of rent, etc., as well as to properly draft the lease agreement in terms that safeguard your interests and provide you with the necessary legal coverage for all possible risks.
leasing of commercial premises
Leasing commercial property is a more complicated process. According to the law, a commercial or professional lease is defined as one that bears the following characteristics: a) there must be a specific contractual definition of the use that the tenant will carry out in the leased premises and b) the specific use must be mentioned in the articles defining the activities that fall under the protective regime of professional leasing and the professions that are subject to the relevant regulation. Without these two elements, the lease cannot be an occupational lease. The minimum lease also for business premises is now three (3) years and what has been pointed out above with regard to residential leases applies accordingly. The lease for commercial accommodation must definitely be drawn up by a lawyer and the tenant must also check it with his own lawyer so that he is not in for any surprises. Similarly, the rules and regulations of the building where the leasehold property is located should also be checked so that the tenant can be sure that they can use the leasehold property as they intend. Our firm’s solicitors undertake the preparation of commercial property leases and provide you with full legal cover and advice on the suitability of the property as commercial accommodation, depending on the intended use.
The use of a solicitor with relevant experience in property leasing matters is essential to safeguard your interests as either the owner and lessor or lessee of the property.
Our firm’s lawyers will guide you and undertake all the necessary checks and drafting of documents for a secure and profitable lease of property for business premises.
It is interesting to note that the lease of a property in Greece by a foreign investor for at least ten years and worth 250.000€, if the property is a tourist residence, gives the possibility to issue a Greek Golden Visa. The lawyers of our office undertake the suitability check of the property, as well as the entire procedure for the lease of the property and then for the issuance of the Golden Visa.
Leasing Airbnb and other digital platforms
Finally, property rental through Airbnb and other digital platforms has become particularly popular in recent years.
Due to the high level of tourism in Greece, renting property through Airbnb and other digital platforms is undoubtedly a profitable investment and apart from Greeks, many foreigners are also buying property in Greece for this purpose.
The process of this short term lease, as it is called, is different from the two aforementioned leases. More specifically, it requires the registration of the property in the “Register of Short-Term Residence Properties”, the submission of the “Short-Term Residence Declaration” per tenant, as well as the registration in the “Register of Short-Term Residence Properties” of the necessary data for the determination of the annual income per income beneficiary. The lawyers of our office, having personal experience in Airbnb property rental issues, can fully inform you about the required actions in order to avoid penalties, mainly tax penalties. We can also undertake the preparation of a tax exemption plan, so that you pay as little tax as possible, always with legal procedures.
Lease of real estate by tender
Many remarkable properties are owned by various public bodies or the Church and therefore the leasing of these properties is done through bidding. These are mainly large properties in privileged areas owned by municipalities, the Church, the Archaeological Resources Fund and other public bodies.
According to the law, these properties can only be leased through public bidding. Cooperation with a qualified lawyer with knowledge of the relevant legislation is necessary for participation in tenders for the lease of public real estate.
The contribution of a qualified real estate lawyer starts with the study and review of the notice of the auction – tender so that the interested party can prepare the file for participation in the tender of the leased property.
The lawyer will also take care of the issuance of all the necessary certificates that are usually required by the notice such as the issuance of certificates of non-bankruptcy, non-administration, non-liquidation, non-liquidation and many others depending on each notice and each tender.
The lawyer will then ensure the preparation of the file in accordance with the requirements of the notice, the preparation of the financial offer, the checking of the technical specifications and technical competence required for each real estate lease tender and generally have the final supervision so that the file is legal and the chances of rejection of the offer are minimized.
The attorney will be present during the property lease bidding process and during the opening of the files to safeguard your interests. After the opening of the files, the lawyer will determine if objections are required against other participants in the property lease competition to exclude them from the competition.
Our firm’s lawyers with their experience in real estate matters and property leasing tenders will determine whether an appeal against the outcome of the tender should also be brought if it is not in your best interest. Please note that an appeal can also be brought against the tender notice if it is found to contain terms that unreasonably exclude your participation or contains terms that are illegal or unclear that prevent you from participating in the property lease tender.
Municipalities and the public sector often put the lease of property up for tender where the tenant is also required to carry out renovation work on the lease or even redevelopment of a large area. In this case we are not talking about a simple lease contract but a mixed lease and contracting contract which has many legal peculiarities. The experienced real estate lawyers of our firm have participated in many real estate lease competitions and can take care of all the legal procedures involved.
Sometimes real estate lease competitions are also conducted electronically. Our lawyers can also in this case undertake all the necessary actions for participation in the real estate lease tender.