Greece's 15% Property Tax for Non-EU Buyers: What It Means If You're Retiring There
Sep 9, 2026
Greece plans a 3% to 15% property transfer tax on non-EU buyers from 2027. A cost change, not a closed door.
If you are planning to buy a home in Greece and you hold a UK, US, Canadian or Australian passport, a proposal announced this month would change your maths considerably. On an €500,000 purchase, the tax due at the point of buying would move from roughly €15,000 to €75,000. That is a €60,000 difference on a single transaction, driven entirely by which passport you hold.
On 6 September 2026, at the Thessaloniki International Fair, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that Greece intends to raise its property transfer tax from 3% to 15% for buyers from outside the EU, from 1 January 2027. It arrived as part of a wider housing package, and it has generated a lot of noise. This post separates what was actually announced from what is still unsettled, explains who it would apply to, and answers the question that matters most for anyone planning a move: does this change your ability to relocate to Greece? The short answer is no. But the cost of buying is a different story, and worth understanding properly.
What Was Actually Announced
The measure is simple to state and easy to overstate. Greece's property transfer tax - the one-off tax paid when you buy an existing property - would rise from its current 3% to 15% for third-country nationals, meaning buyers who are not citizens of the EU or EEA. The stated start date is 1 January 2027.
Two points of context matter before anyone reacts.
First, this is a political intention, not a law. It was announced in a speech, not passed by parliament. Between now and 2027 the detail will be drafted, debated, and quite possibly amended. Announcements of this kind have a way of narrowing considerably by the time they reach the statute book, in every country in the world.
Second, the property transfer tax is only one of the costs of buying, and for many buyers not the largest. It is closer to the UK's Stamp Duty Land Tax than to an annual property tax - a transaction cost paid once, at purchase, not a recurring charge on ownership. Raising it changes the entry cost of buying; it does not create an ongoing levy on people who already own, or on people who live in Greece without buying.
What the Property Transfer Tax Actually Is
If you have not bought in Greece before, it helps to understand what this tax is and is not.
The property transfer tax (foros metavivasis akiniton) is charged on the transfer of existing property - resale homes, in practice. It currently sits at 3%, plus a small municipal surcharge of around 0.09%, so roughly 3.09% in total. Crucially, it is calculated on the higher of two figures: the agreed sale price, or the state-assessed "objective value" of the property. Everyone pays it, Greek citizens included. It is a standard, universal transaction tax, comparable to stamp duty in the UK or transfer taxes across most of Europe.
New-build property is treated differently: purchases of new-builds are subject to 24% VAT rather than the transfer tax, though that VAT has been suspended in recent years to support construction. That suspension is currently due to lapse at the end of 2026, although extensions usually come towards the end of the year.
Why Greece Is Doing This
This is a housing-policy measure, not only a revenue grab. Mitsotakis framed it explicitly around affordability, arguing that foreign demand has made it materially harder for Greeks to buy homes in several areas.
He is not inventing the pressure. Greek property prices have risen sharply since 2020 - island prices rose around 12% in 2026 alone, with some regions well above that. A meaningful share of that demand has come from abroad, amplified by the Golden Visa programme, which channelled investment buyers into exactly the prime zones where locals already struggle. We covered the resulting price landscape in detail in our guide to Greece property prices in 2026.
Greece is also acting with one eye on what happened elsewhere. Countries that absorbed large inflows of foreign property money have tended to respond, often abruptly: Portugal removed residential property from its Golden Visa, Spain floated a punitive tax on non-EU buyers, and Canada introduced an outright temporary ban on foreign purchases. Seen against that backdrop, a transfer-tax increase is a relatively moderate, market-based lever - it prices additional foreign demand rather than banning it. It also follows the same logic as Greece's 2024 decision to raise Golden Visa investment thresholds. This is a government trying to get ahead of a political problem before it becomes acute.
Who It Would Apply To - and Who Is Exempt
The increase is aimed narrowly at residential property bought by third-country nationals. According to the government's stated intention, the higher rate would not apply to several categories:
Category | Treatment under the proposal |
|---|---|
EU / EEA citizens | Exempt - stay at 3% |
Long-term residents of Greece | Indicated as exempt |
Legal entities (companies) | Indicated as outside the increase |
Commercial property | Not targeted |
Plots of land | Not targeted |
Other non-residential real estate | Not targeted |
Non-EU individuals buying a residential home | 15% |
For UK buyers, this is the point that often lands late: since Brexit, a UK citizen is a third-country national in Greece, exactly like a US, Canadian or Australian one. If you are British, this proposal is aimed at you.
Some of these boundaries are genuinely settled in the announcement; others are open questions the drafting will have to resolve. In particular, one aspect that will be following closely is whether the rule will treat third-country nationals who already hold a Greek residence permit.
Does This Change Your Ability to Relocate? No.
This is the question that matters most, and it is the one most easily lost in the noise. The answer is straightforward: this is a cost question, not an access question.
Nothing in the announcement touches immigration routes. The pathways that let you move to Greece and build a life there - the 7% flat tax regime for foreign pensioners, the Financially Independent Person (FIP) visa, and the various residence permits - are entirely separate from how much tax you pay when you buy a house. You do not need to buy property to relocate to Greece. Many people rent, especially in the first year, precisely so they can get to know an area before committing capital to it.
After the 2024 Golden Visa reforms, we do not expect a wave of further changes to the immigration framework itself. What is shifting is one line item in the cost of buying a home, for one category of buyer. That is worth planning around. It is not a reason to abandon a well-founded plan to move.
If anything, it reinforces something we say often: the decision to relocate and the decision to buy are two different decisions, and they should be sequenced deliberately rather than bundled together in a rush.
What to Watch Between Now and 2027
Because this is intention rather than law, the useful posture is attention, not panic. A few things are worth tracking.
Whether it survives in this form. Lawyers have already flagged a real constitutional question. Charging two buyers different rates on the same property, on the same day, at the same price, based solely on citizenship, raises issues of equal treatment and proportionality under both the Greek Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. That does not mean the measure will fall, but it does mean the final version may look different from the speech.
The new-build VAT question. The 24% VAT suspension on new-builds is due to lapse at the end of 2026. If it is not extended, and the transfer-tax increase lands at the same time, buyers could find both routes into the market more expensive at once. How these two measures are reconciled will shape the real cost of buying in 2027.
The wider package. The transfer-tax rise sits inside a roughly €2.2 billion housing initiative aimed largely at Greek households - a €2 billion subsidised mortgage programme, phased electricity cost reductions, and abolition of the ENFIA annual property tax in smaller settlements. This is domestic housing policy first. Foreign buyers are one part of a much larger picture, which is worth remembering when reading the headlines.
The timing of your own move. If a purchase is genuinely part of your plan, the 1 January 2027 date creates a real question about sequencing - completing before the change means the current 3% rate applies. That is a legitimate thing to weigh, but it should be weighed properly, against your actual readiness to buy, not turned into a reason to rush a major decision. Our guide to timing your move abroad is a good starting point for thinking that through.
Our Take
This is a smaller story than the headline number suggests, and a bigger one than it looks if you are about to buy.
Smaller, because it is a proposal, not a law; it touches one transaction cost, not the right to move; and it leaves every immigration route to Greece exactly where it was. Anyone telling you the door to Greece is closing is misreading it. The door is open. The cost of buying a home once you are through it may go up, for some buyers, from 2027.
Bigger, because €75,000 on an €500,000 purchase is not a rounding error, and because it confirms a direction of travel. Greece, like Portugal, Spain and others before it, is moving to protect its housing market from foreign demand. The specifics will keep changing. The underlying trend - that buying property abroad as a non-EU citizen is getting more expensive and more conditional - is unlikely to reverse. That makes the case for planning the financial side of a move properly, rather than assuming today's rules will hold, stronger than ever.
The right response is not to rush and not to panic. It is to separate the two decisions - moving and buying - understand which rules apply to which, and structure the sequence so that a tax change on one does not derail the other. That is precisely the work we do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Greece's 15% property tax for non-EU buyers now law?
No. It was announced by Prime Minister Mitsotakis at the Thessaloniki International Fair on 6 September 2026 as a political intention, with a stated start date of 1 January 2027. It has not been legislated, and the detail may change before it does - including facing possible constitutional challenge.
Who does the 15% property transfer tax apply to?
It targets third-country nationals - buyers who are not EU or EEA citizens - purchasing residential property in Greece. Since Brexit, UK citizens fall into this category, alongside US, Canadian and Australian buyers. The government has indicated it would not apply to EU/EEA citizens, long-term residents, companies, commercial property, plots, or other non-residential real estate.
Does this affect my right to move to or retire in Greece?
No. The proposal is about the cost of buying property, not about immigration. Residence routes such as the Financially Independent Person visa are unaffected. You do not need to buy property to relocate to Greece, and most people rent first.
How much would the tax increase actually cost?
On an €500,000 property, the transfer tax would rise from roughly €15,000 (at 3%) to €75,000 (at 15%) - a difference of about €60,000. The tax is calculated on the higher of the agreed price or the state-assessed "objective value" of the property.
Does the 15% rate apply to new-build homes?
The transfer tax applies to existing (resale) property. New-builds are instead subject to 24% VAT, which has been suspended in recent years. That suspension is due to lapse at the end of 2026, although it may be extended by the end of the year.
Should I buy before January 2027 to avoid the higher rate?
Possibly, if a purchase is already part of a well-formed plan and you are genuinely ready to complete. Buying before the change would mean the current 3% rate applies. But this is not a reason to rush a major decision - the move itself and the property purchase should be sequenced deliberately, ideally with proper advice on both the tax and the residence side.
This is a moving story, and the version that becomes law may differ from the version that was announced. At Mitos, we help people plan the move to Greece as a whole - separating the decision to relocate from the decision to buy, getting the sequence right, and making sure a change to one cost does not undo the rest of the plan. Talk to Mitos about your move
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