Buying property in Rhodes made easier for non EU citizens

Till now, buying a property in the Greek Islands has been a very lengthy process for all buyers outside the EU.

The procedure, for national security reasons, involved a series of approvals from various departments of the Greek Armed Forces, as well as checks to the prospective buyers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior Affairs. Foreign buyers and investors had to wait for more than 18 months to obtain a license were completely put off by such an unreasonable bureaucracy. In the majority of cases the potential property was intended as just a small holiday home.

The Ministry of Defence has announced that the complex procedure, organized centrally in Athens, will be replaced with a local committee at regional level that will be able to address the issue in a very efficient and speedy way.

According to Savvas Savvaidis, at Savvaidis & Associates Estate Agents, this is a very important step towards the normalization of the Greek Real Estate Market. Capital doesn’t have a flag. The Greek Sovereignty is not at any stake if non Europeans buy a property in the Greek Islands. It has been very frustrating to see buyers investing elsewhere and not in the Greek Island because of a Law dated back in 1926 “ continues Savvas Savvaidis.

In the same announcement the Ministry of Defence has added that any kind of licensing (Blue Cards Issuance) will be completely abolished for all citizens of EU and for the citizens of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway. The Blue Card Issuance has been an unnecessary registration to the Police Authorities in Case of a Purchase of a EU buyers resulting in a delay of nearly 2-3 weeks.