Buying property in the Ionian Islands

Who can buy

Anyone can own property in Greece — EU citizens, British, American, Israeli, Swiss, Australian or any other nationality — as an individual or through a company. The one exception is the "border areas" law, which requires non-EU/EFTA buyers to obtain a permit before buying in certain frontier regions. None of the Ionian Islands we work on is a border area: Corfu, Paxos, Lefkada, Meganisi, Ithaca, Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Kythira are all open to every nationality without a permit. The only Ionian exceptions are the three small Diapontia islands north-west of Corfu (Othonoi, Mathraki, Ereikoussa), and the mainland coast opposite (Thesprotia and Preveza), where non-EU buyers need a decision from the regional administration that typically takes four to nine months.

The process, step by step

1. Appoint your own lawyer. Not the seller's, not the developer's. A lawyer is no longer legally mandatory for a Greek property purchase, but for a buyer abroad it is the single most useful appointment you will make: they run the title checks, hold your power of attorney, and sit at the notary's table on your behalf. Budget around 1% of the price plus VAT.

2. Get a Greek tax number (AFM). Issued by the tax authority, usually within a few days, normally arranged by your lawyer under power of attorney. You need it for the deed, the transfer-tax return, the annual property declaration and utilities.

3. Bank account. A Greek account is not a legal requirement — the price can be wired from your bank abroad directly to the seller's Greek account — but it is practical for utilities and property tax, and it is required if you are buying for a Golden Visa, where the full investment must be paid to an account in Greece. Bank onboarding for non-residents takes one to three weeks and involves proof of income and source of funds.

4. Power of attorney. Signed before a Greek notary, or at a Greek consulate or foreign notary with an apostille and translation. It lets your lawyer sign the deed if you cannot be in Greece on the day.

5. Title and cadastre check. Your lawyer searches the Hellenic Cadastre for ownership, mortgages, claims and boundary disputes, and traces the chain of title. On the islands this stage occasionally reveals unregistered inheritances or "unknown owner" entries; better to find them now.

6. Building legality. The seller's engineer issues a certificate of building legality and the property's digital building identity. Any unpermitted works must be regularised before the deed can be signed. Your own engineer should verify the permit against what was actually built.

7. Forest map, archaeology and shoreline. For houses with land and for all plots: the ratified forest map (land shown as forest cannot be built on and titles can be challenged by the State), a written confirmation from the Ephorate of Antiquities, and the demarcated shoreline. New construction within 25 metres of the shoreline is prohibited under the tourism spatial framework in force since August 2026.

8. Reservation and pre-contract. Once the checks are clean, a deposit of around 10% is paid — by bank transfer, never in cash — under a private pre-agreement or a notarial pre-contract that fixes price, completion date and conditions.

9. The deed. Signed before a notary, with the transfer tax paid beforehand. The notary records how the price was paid; since December 2023 a deed that records a cash payment is void and cannot be registered.

10. Registration. The notary submits the deed to the Cadastre electronically. Ownership is complete on registration. Afterwards: utilities transferred, the property declared on your annual E9 form, insurance arranged.

From a clean offer to a registered deed, six to ten weeks is normal for a resale with tidy paperwork. Plots and properties needing regularisation take longer.

What it costs

Two regimes apply, and which one depends on the property, not on you.

Resale properties, and new builds where the developer has opted into the VAT suspension: real-estate transfer tax of 3.09% (3% plus a municipal surcharge) on the higher of the price and the tax-assessed value.

New builds sold by a developer: in principle 24% VAT on the price instead of transfer tax. VAT on new buildings has been suspended until 31 December 2026 under Law 5246/2025, but the suspension is optional for the developer and must be elected per project. For anything completing after that date, have your lawyer confirm the VAT position in writing before you commit.

On top of the tax:

For a €1,000,000 resale villa the all-in figure is roughly 8.5–9% including a buyer-side commission, or around 6% without one. If 24% VAT applies, the total is closer to 29%. Our commission is stated in a written agreement before any viewing, as Greek law requires.

Paying for it

The full price must move through the banking system: transfer, bank cheque or card. Banks apply anti-money-laundering checks on incoming funds, so keep the documents that show where the money comes from. If you later become tax-resident in Greece, keep the evidence that the funds were imported from abroad — it matters for the Greek deemed-income rules.

Owning it: the annual taxes

ENFIA is the annual property tax, calculated per square metre by zone, age and other factors, with a value-based surcharge on individual properties above €400,000. It is paid in monthly instalments. Since 2026 there is a discount of 20% (10% for homes above €500,000 in taxable value) if the home is insured against earthquake, fire and flood with a registered insurer — worth arranging from day one.

Municipal charges are collected through the electricity bill.

Rental income is taxed on a progressive scale: 15% up to €12,000, 25% to €24,000, 35% to €36,000 and 45% above. Letting up to two properties short-term without hotel-type services stays under this scale with no VAT; three or more, or any services beyond linen, is treated as a business.

Capital gains tax on the resale of property by individuals has been suspended continuously since 2015; the current suspension runs to 31 December 2026 and an extension is expected but not yet enacted.

Inheritance tax applies to Greek property whatever your residence, with a €150,000 tax-free band per heir for spouses and children and low rates above it.

Short-term letting

If part of your plan is to rent the house out in summer, three things to know. Every property must carry a registration number (AMA) shown on every listing. Since October 2025 there are minimum standards — liability insurance, smoke detectors, an electrician's declaration, extinguishers, first-aid kit — with fines from €5,000. Guests pay a climate-resilience fee per night (€15 in season for a detached house over 80 m²). No Ionian island currently restricts new registrations, unlike central Athens and Thessaloniki, but the 2026 tourism spatial framework gives local plans the power to introduce limits from 2027. And a property bought for a Golden Visa may not be let short-term at all.

Plots and building

Outside settlement boundaries a plot generally needs at least 4,000 m² with legal frontage on a recognised road. A 4,000 m² plot typically allows a two-storey house of up to about 186 m² of floor area, 7.5 m high, set back at least 15 m from the boundaries; larger plots allow more, up to a cap of 360 m². The old exceptions for smaller plots expired on 30 June 2026, so a plot under 4,000 m² outside the plan should be treated as unbuildable unless a valid permit is already in place. Local urban plans due from 2027 may redraw settlement boundaries and raise minimum plot sizes on some islands. We only market plots with a written buildability opinion from a local engineer, and we say so on each listing.

Residency

Buying property does not by itself give you the right to live in Greece, and it does not make you tax-resident. EU citizens can settle freely. Others have three main routes: the Golden Visa through a qualifying property purchase (€800,000 on the larger islands, €400,000 on Paxos, Ithaca and Meganisi — see our separate guide), the Digital Nomad visa for remote workers with at least €3,500 net monthly income, and ordinary long-stay visas. Relocators can also consider Greece's tax regimes: a €100,000 flat tax on foreign income for new residents who invest €500,000, a 7% flat tax for foreign pensioners, and a 50% income-tax exemption for people taking up work in Greece — each with its own conditions and time limits.

Selling later

Greece has no restriction on foreigners reselling. You will need the same paperwork the seller gave you, an energy performance certificate, an up-to-date building legality certificate and tax clearance. Capital gains tax is currently suspended (see above).

What we do, and do not do

We are licensed Greek estate agents: we find and present properties, verify the basic documents before a listing goes live, arrange viewings and negotiate. We are not your lawyer, engineer or tax adviser, and we will always tell you to appoint independent ones. Every property on this site shows its energy class as the law requires, states whether VAT applies, and marks Golden Visa eligibility only where the price and the 120 m² rule are actually met.