How to Buy a House on a Greek Island: What Is Different

The short answer: same steps, six island differences

To buy a house on a Greek island you follow the same procedure as on the mainland: a Greek tax number (AFM, ΑΦΜ), a lawyer who checks the title, a notary who signs the deed, and registration at the Hellenic Cadastre. Greek island property follows the same national law as a flat in Athens. What changes on an island is the set of checks around that procedure. Six matter.

1. Border-area permit for non-EU and non-EFTA buyers on the Dodecanese, Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Santorini and Skyros.
2. Golden Visa tier by population: €800,000 above 3,100 residents, €400,000 at 3,100 or fewer, with exceptions for Attica, Mykonos and Thira.
3. Building land: 4,000 m² and a recognised public road outside town plans, with a transitional right for older 750, 1,200 and 2,000 m² plots to 30 June 2027; permits suspended on Mykonos and in the Santorini caldera.
4. The shoreline: the foreshore and beach are public, and a fixed line decides how close to the sea a house can stand.
5. Water, power and access: desalination, grid connections still being built, and winter ferry timetables.
6. Earthquakes and building quality: the electronic property identity shows what was permitted and what was added later.

The AFM, Cadastre checks and fees are national: see how to buy property in Greece. Island groups and more prices are in the Greek islands property guide.

Which Greek islands need a permit for non-EU buyers

Non-EU and non-EFTA buyers need prior permission on the Dodecanese (Rhodes, Kos, Patmos, Leros, Kalymnos, Symi and the rest of the group), in the former prefectures of Lesvos, Chios and Samos, on the island of Thira (Santorini) and on Skyros. No permit is needed on Crete, Corfu and the other Ionian islands, the Argo-Saronic islands, the Cyclades other than Thira, or the Sporades other than Skyros.

The rule is article 24 of Law 1892/1990, as replaced by article 114 of Law 3978/2011. It lists the former prefectures of Dodecanese, Evros, Thesprotia, Kastoria, Kilkis, Lesvos, Xanthi, Preveza, Rodopi, Samos, Florina and Chios, the islands of Thira and Skyros, and six former provinces on the northern mainland. Corfu and the Diapontia islands are not on the list.

Under articles 25 and 26, any transfer of a property right in a border area to a person or company from outside the EU and the European Free Trade Area is barred unless the prohibition is lifted for that buyer. The buyer applies to the committee of the Decentralised Administration, stating the intended use. The committee, chaired by the Secretary General with representatives of the Ministries of National Defence, Economy and Citizen Protection, decides by majority, and the defence representative must vote in favour. A British, American or Australian buyer on Rhodes or Santorini needs this step; a German or Swiss buyer does not. Lawyers normally make any deposit conditional on the decision. Detail by island: Rhodes, Santorini and the Kos buyer’s guide.

Golden Visa on the islands: the 3,100-resident rule

The Golden Visa minimum is €800,000 on every island with more than 3,100 residents at the latest census and €400,000 on islands at or below that figure, under article 64 of Law 5100/2024. The €800,000 tier also covers the whole Attica Region, including Hydra, Spetses, Aegina, Poros and Kythira, and the Mykonos and Thira regional units, whatever their population. In both tiers the money goes into one property; for a built property the minimum is 120 m² of main areas.

The latest census is 2021. The Hellenic Statistical Authority publishes resident population by municipality (17 March 2023), not by island, so the municipality figure is the working guide.

A Golden Visa home may not be let short term; a breach means revocation and a €50,000 fine under the same article. The €250,000 routes for converted industrial buildings and restored listed buildings apply on every island; the ministry circular of 24 September 2024 explains the rules. More on the Golden Visa hub and in the Paros, Kefalonia and Hydra and Spetses guides.

Building on island land outside a town plan

Outside town plans and settlement boundaries, a plot can be built on only if it has at least 4,000 m² and 25 m of frontage on a recognised public road, under article 251 of the Spatial Planning and Urban Planning Code, Law 5306/2026. The coefficient is 0.18, coverage 10%, two floors and 7.50 m height. In the areas of the 2002 island presidential decrees, where slope would otherwise bar building, a buildable plot may carry a single-storey house of up to 150 m² if the mean slope is no more than 40%.

Smaller plots that existed before set dates keep a transitional right to build under article 273: 750 m² (plots existing on 12 November 1962), 1,200 m² (12 September 1964) and 2,000 m² (17 October 1978, on a national, provincial or municipal road, or within the zone of a settlement existing on 24 April 1977). The right depends on a pre-approval or a building-service certificate requested within two years of 9 December 2020 and, on the certificate route, a building-permit or pre-approval application filed by 30 June 2027.

• Roads. A road counts once the municipality has catalogued it and the Decentralised Administration has ratified the network, using aerial photographs from before 27 July 1977. A dirt track is not proof of frontage.
• Permit suspensions. New permits outside the town plan on Mykonos, and for new buildings, extensions and pools in the Santorini caldera, are suspended until each island’s Special Urban Plan is approved and no later than 31 December 2026, under article 75 of Law 5261/2025. See Mykonos and Santorini.
• Settlement boundaries. About 12,000 settlements of up to 2,000 residents are being redrawn under a presidential decree of April 2025; an objections platform was tendered on 19 October 2026. A plot outside the new line loses the village building terms. Read how settlement boundary objections will work.
• Forest and Natura. Land shown as forest on the ratified forest maps cannot be built on. The draft decree for a southern Cyclades marine park, sent to the Council of State on 16 October 2026, covers more than 250 km² of land on 12 inhabited islands, including Milos, Folegandros, Amorgos and Santorini. The park is divided into 196 protection zones, each with its own permitted uses. The decree is a draft, not law: see the Cyclades marine park draft decree.

A listing that calls land buildable is not proof; a licensed engineer confirms plot, road and zone in writing. See buying land in Greece and build a house in Greece.

Foreshore and beach: the line that limits seafront plots

Nothing can be built on the foreshore (aigialos, αιγιαλός) or the beach zone (paralia, παραλία), and neither can be privately owned. Law 2971/2001, as amended by article 23 of Law 4607/2019, defines the foreshore as the strip washed by the largest usual waves and the beach as a further strip of at least 30 m and up to 50 m landward of the foreshore line, which the committee may narrow with reasons. The Supreme Court Prosecutor’s circular 10/2023 restates that both belong to the State and that buildings on them are to be demolished.

The line is fixed by a committee and published in the Government Gazette; under article 27 of Law 4321/2015 a preliminary line drawn on orthophotos became final where no decision followed in time. Where no line is fixed, a plot that appears to reach the water may lose a beach zone of up to 50 m once it is. The checks are the Gazette decision and a survey that plots both lines, or, if none exists, a licensed engineer’s estimate of what a future line would leave buildable. Structures found on the foreshore or beach zone are demolished (circular 10/2023) and cannot be legalised under article 374 of Law 5306/2026. More on beachfront property in Greece.

Water, electricity and getting there in winter

The points that decide how usable an island house is are where the water comes from in August, whether the island is on the national grid, how sewage is handled, and how often the ferry runs in February.

Water

Many Cycladic and Dodecanese islands rely on desalination and tankers. The Ministry of Environment and Energy announced the inauguration of a 600 m³-a-day desalination plant on Patmos for 20 October 2026 and is funding a €5.3 million, 3,000 m³-a-day water system on Leros, with no completion date published: see Patmos desalination and the Leros water system. For a single house, the checks are whether it is on the municipal network, the size of its cistern (sterna, στέρνα), whether any well is licensed, and whether it has a sewer connection or a septic tank emptied by tanker.

Electricity

Crete has been on the mainland grid since the 1,000 MW Crete-Attica cable entered operation in May 2025, IPTO reports. The southern Cyclades link to Santorini, Folegandros, Milos and Serifos is scheduled for completion in December 2026 on the IPTO project page. The Dodecanese and North Aegean are not yet connected: for the Thrace-Lemnos, Kos-Rhodes, Lesvos-Lemnos and Lesvos-Chios cables, worth about €1.15 billion, a designated contractor was named in June 2026, with completion foreseen by 2031, the contractor stock exchange announcement says. A €2.3 billion island decarbonisation fund sits in a draft energy bill, not yet law: see the energy bill and island fund.

Access

Rhodes, Kos, Corfu, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Crete, Mykonos and Santorini have airports. Smaller islands depend on ferries, which run less often in winter and stop in strong winds. The winter timetable and the nearest hospital decide how usable a house is out of season. See living on a Greek island year round.

Earthquakes and construction quality

Greece has had a seismic code since 1959; an island house permitted from 2001 was designed to the Greek Seismic Code EAK 2000, which took in a revised three-zone seismic hazard map in 2003, the Earthquake Planning and Protection Organisation (OASP) states; the Eurocodes with their Greek national annexes were approved for use in 2014. Santorini is the live example: from 27 January 2025 a swarm of more than 2,000 earthquakes struck the sea between Santorini and Amorgos, the largest at magnitude 5.3, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre recorded. The question for a buyer is whether the house matches its permit.

The document that shows this is the electronic property identity (ilektroniki taftotita akinitou, ηλεκτρονική ταυτότητα ακινήτου), drawn up by a licensed engineer. Under article 343 of Law 5306/2026 it holds the building permit and its revisions, the permit plans, the energy performance certificate, any declarations legalising unauthorised works, as-built floor plans where the building differs from the permit, and a structural vulnerability form or static adequacy study where required. The as-built plans are compared with the house on site: pools, extra bedrooms and enclosed verandas are common additions on holiday islands, and works on the beach zone or forest land cannot be legalised under article 374 of Law 5306/2026. A structural report is the usual first step on a stone house (see buying a stone village house). Legalisation categories and deadlines are in illegal building works: what buyers should check.

Greek island house prices by island, Q2 2026

Asking prices for Greek island homes averaged €2,941/m² on the Aegean islands in the second quarter of 2026, up 5.9% in a year, and on the Ionian islands €2,531/m², also up 5.9%, the Spitogatos Greek islands release of 16 September 2026 shows. Crete averaged €2,250/m², up 6.9%. The Cyclades averaged €4,063/m², the Spitogatos national release of 4 August 2026 shows.

Leros rose by more than 30% in a year and Kalymnos by close to 20%, while Mykonos, Santorini, Folegandros, Sikinos and Andros fell by between about 1% and 6%, the same release says. No average prices were published for Rhodes, Corfu, Zakynthos or Naxos. Foreigners who buy property in Greece’s islands came first from the United States, then the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and France. These are the asking prices at which a Greek island house for sale is listed, not sale prices: on a small island with few sales one listing can move the average. See Greece house prices for the Bank of Greece index and cheap houses in Greece for the lower end.

Renting out a house on a Greek island

A house on a Greek island can be let short term on every island. The freeze on new registrations covers only the 1st, 2nd and 3rd municipal districts of Athens, to 31 December 2026, and the 1st Municipal Community of Thessaloniki from 1 July to 31 December 2026, the Housing Policy Portal states. Every let needs a registry number from the AADE Short-Term Stay Property Registry, and each stay is declared by the 20th of the month after the guest leaves.

• Density. A peer-reviewed study in the journal Tourism and Hospitality, published on 16 October 2026, counted 273.75 registered short-term rentals per 1,000 residents on Serifos, 234.06 on Kythnos and 181.85 on Sifnos, against a Greek average of 10.02. Read the Serifos density study.
• Season. Most island demand falls between May and October, so income is concentrated in the summer months.
• Golden Visa. A property bought for a Golden Visa may not be let short term or sublet, under Law 5100/2024. Long-term letting is allowed.

National rules and fees are in short-term rental rules 2026, tax in rental income tax for owners abroad, and the practical side on renting out a holiday home.

What it costs to buy a house on a Greek island

Purchase costs are national. Transfer tax on a resale is 3% of the taxable value plus a 3% municipal surcharge on the tax, 3.09% in total, AADE states. Cadastre registration is 0.6% at Cadastre offices under Decision 2/2026, or 0.5% where an old land registry still operates. Notaries are unsalaried public officials paid on an official scale; lawyers agree their fee in writing; buyer’s or estate agent fees are agreed case by case.

Renovation and running costs are where islands differ. No official index of island building costs exists; nationally, the construction cost index for new homes rose 4.8% in the year to the third quarter of 2026, with materials up 5.1%, ELSTAT reported on 23 October 2026, and island contractors add sea freight and travel, priced per job. Water by tanker, septic tank emptying and a generator for outages are island running costs. See holiday home running costs, the cost of buying property in Greece and the buying cost calculator.

Thinking about buying on a Greek island? Give your brief to an independent buyer’s agency. It can search the market for exactly what you are looking for and advise you through the purchase.

Back to the Holiday Homes hub.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Law 5100/2024, article 64: Golden Visa investment thresholds (taxheaven law text)
• Ministry of Migration and Asylum: Circular 9 on the Golden Visa provisions of Law 5100/2024 (24 September 2024)
• ELSTAT: 2021 Census results, resident population by municipality (17 March 2023)
• Law 3978/2011, article 114: border areas, replacing articles 24 to 26 of Law 1892/1990
• Law 5306/2026, Spatial Planning and Urban Planning Code, article 251: general building terms outside town plans
• Law 5306/2026, article 273: transitional building rights for older smaller plots (deadline 30 June 2027)
• Law 5306/2026, article 343: contents of the electronic property identity
• Law 5306/2026, article 374: works excluded from legalisation (foreshore, beach zone, forest land)
• Law 5261/2025, article 75: extension of the Mykonos and Santorini caldera permit suspensions
• Law 4607/2019, article 23: definitions of foreshore and beach in Law 2971/2001
• Law 4321/2015, article 27: fixing of the foreshore line
• Supreme Court Prosecutor: Circular 10/2023 on the foreshore and beach (4 May 2023)
• Decentralised Administration of Crete: Forest maps, questions and answers
• IPTO: Cyclades interconnection Phase D, Santorini, Folegandros, Milos, Serifos
• IPTO: ENERGON Winter 2025, Crete-Attica interconnection
• Cenergy Holdings: Hellenic Cables designated contractor for the Dodecanese and North-East Aegean interconnections (25 June 2026)
• OASP: Greek Seismic Code EAK 2000 and its amendments
• EMSC: Earthquake sequence between Santorini and Amorgos (2025)
• Spitogatos: Greek islands, asking sale prices Q2 2026 (16 September 2026)
• Spitogatos: Home sales and rents in Greece, Q2 2026 (4 August 2026)
• Housing Policy Portal: Temporary restrictions on short-term rentals
• AADE: Short-Term Stay Property Registry
• AADE: Property transfer tax for residents abroad
• Hellenic Cadastre: Decision 2/2026 on fixed and proportional fees (Gazette B 64/13 January 2026)
• Ministry of National Economy and Finance: Draft bill posted for public consultation to 1 November 2026 (18 October 2026)
• ELSTAT: Construction cost index for new residential buildings, Q3 2026 (23 October 2026)