MPs have passed a bill to regulate rental housing by ownersthrough online platforms such as Airbnb and booking .com, which deal with bothnew and existing housing.
Apartment owners will now have to register in accordancewith the new law adopted by the House of Representatives. The bill was passedby 52 deputies “for” and two deputies “against”.
The bill was proposed by the ruling DISY party, AverofNeophytou and EDEK deputy Elias Miriantos. The proposal was amended before thevote to include an extension clause for existing Airbnb owners. The time periodwas increased from one year to two years. New landlords will have to registerimmediately.
Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios told MPs last October thatafter negotiating with platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, the latteragreed that they oblige users to enter the serial number provided by theGovernment of Cyprus before allowing homeowners to use their services. The billaims to create a special registry for short-term self-catering, where eachleased property will be assigned a number. According to Perdios, this numberwill then be provided to online platforms, ensuring that the advertisedproperty is approved by the government.
The platforms also agreed to provide the authorities withtransaction-related information that may help with taxation purposes.