A new law designed to end the exploitation of vulnerable people who pay whatever they can afford simply to spend the night sleeping on a chair is being prepared by the Greek government. The legislation also aims to protect families living in apartment buildings where residential flats have been converted into informal, overcrowded dormitories, disrupting the daily lives of other residents.

The proposed legislation, announced by Minister for Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis, will prohibit the systematic commercial provision of individual beds or sleeping spaces in properties designated for residential use, while also targeting illegal subletting.

It will introduce fines and other penalties both for those operating or facilitating these arrangements and for landlords who knowingly allow their properties to be used in this way.

The initiative follows repeated complaints about flats in central Athens being converted into makeshift sleeping quarters for dozens of people, many of them migrants living in poverty. The authorities say the measure is intended to tackle exploitation and unsafe accommodation rather than punish those forced to rely on such arrangements.

The price list: €10 for a chair, €20 for a mattress

Police officers and public health inspectors, frequently called to intervene following complaints from other residents, have uncovered what amounts to a price list for overnight accommodation.

A place to sleep on a chair reportedly costs €10, while a mattress costs €20. A bed commands a considerably higher price, even for a single night, and those wanting access to bathing facilities are charged extra.

In many cases, the same sleeping space is rented to different people during the day and at night, depending on their ability to pay. Some homeless people cannot afford even two consecutive nights in the same flat.

The proposed penalties will not apply to those sleeping in these conditions, who are considered victims of exploitation, but to the people profiting from the arrangements.

Chrysochoidis has also responded to criticism of the proposals, stressing that the authorities are seeking to address a genuine problem affecting other vulnerable residents, including migrant families.

Most of the makeshift dormitories identified by the authorities are located in apartment buildings in central Athens, often immediately beside homes occupied by families who are themselves migrants.

Officials at the Citizen Protection Ministry have raised a series of questions about the consequences for neighbouring households.

“How safe are families and their children when strangers are constantly entering and leaving the building, around the clock? How can residents sleep peacefully before going to work the following day when the noise never stops? And how can their health be protected when 30, 40 or even more people are crammed into a single flat?” ministry officials said.

A gap in the law

The proposed legislation seeks to close what the government describes as a significant gap in Greek law concerning informal sleeping facilities.

The practice, found predominantly in Athens, involves the systematic rental of individual beds or sleeping spaces, sometimes in arrangements resembling capsule accommodation, frequently through illegal subletting.

These facilities generally operate without complying with the health, building or tourism regulations applicable to licensed accommodation.

According to the proposed legislative framework, the main problems include:

• Public health and safety risks: Severe overcrowding in properties lacking adequate ventilation, sanitation facilities or emergency exits.
• Deteriorating living conditions: Constant turnover of unfamiliar occupants, disruption of residential communities, noise and insecurity among permanent residents.
• Tax evasion and unfair competition: Unlicensed accommodation providers avoiding tax obligations while competing with legitimate hotels and regulated short-term accommodation businesses.

What the proposed legislation will prohibit

The new provisions will ban the systematic commercial rental, subletting or other transfer of individual beds or sleeping spaces in properties officially designated for residential use.

More specifically, the proposed framework establishes three key definitions.

1. Prohibited activity: The systematic rental, subletting or provision, by any means, of individual beds or sleeping spaces for accommodation or rest in properties designated for residential use under planning regulations.

2. Bed or sleeping space: Any facility intended to provide an individual place to sleep or rest, including beds, bunk beds, mattresses or other purpose-built structures.

3. Systematic provision of sleeping spaces: The rental of individual beds or sections of rooms in residential properties to successive occupants in exchange for payment, typically for daily or short stays, where those sharing the accommodation have no family or personal relationship.

The regulations will not apply to properties legally licensed or registered as tourist accommodation.

Other exemptions will cover officially recognised accommodation facilities, hostels, boarding houses, shelters and services for homeless people or people with substance dependencies, as well as psychosocial rehabilitation units operating under specific statutory or regulatory provisions.

These exemptions are intended to distinguish unlicensed commercial sleeping facilities from legitimate accommodation and welfare services.

Inspections, closures and fines

Enforcement will involve several public authorities, reflecting the different legal issues associated with the practice.

Responsibility for inspections will be shared between the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), the Financial Police, Municipal Police, the relevant planning authorities and the competent services of the Ministry of Tourism.

Where a violation is identified, police will be able to seal the property temporarily or permanently, either following a complaint or a report from a public authority, subject to the applicable legal conditions.

The proposed financial penalties are as follows:

The €1,000 daily penalty will continue to accumulate until the activity has ceased and the prohibited use has been eliminated.

In cases of repeat offending, the property will also be ordered to close, while a second repeat violation will result in the applicable maximum penalty being tripled.

Those found in breach of the legislation will be notified of the violation and the fine imposed through a registered letter. They will then have five working days from receipt of the notification to pay.

The legislation remains a proposal, meaning these fines and enforcement powers are not yet in force under the new framework.

The government’s stated objective is twofold: to dismantle a lucrative system that profits from the desperation of vulnerable migrants and homeless people, and to restore basic safety, hygiene and acceptable living conditions in apartment buildings where permanent residents have been forced to share communal spaces with constantly changing groups of overnight occupants.

The measures form part of a broader initiative announced by Chrysochoidis to tackle illegal accommodation arrangements in central Athens, with the minister insisting that the authorities must protect both those being exploited and the families living alongside them.