If you own property overseas, it might occur to you to rent out the property to holidaymakers during certain times of year. This can be an excellent source of passive income, but it’s important to be aware of the requirements of the country in which you are letting. Many countries will require apostilles on your legal documents.
As we covered in our article Buying and Selling Overseas Properties, the process of purchasing property overseas requires the legalisation of certain public documents. This is true for the letting of overseas properties as well. The specific documents you will need will depend on the country in which your property is located. For the purpose of outlining some common requirements, let’s look at what you would need to let a property in Greece.
Letting Licence
In most countries, you will need to apply for a licence in order to let your property as a holiday home. It is important to note that in popular tourist destinations, including certain Greek islands, licences are sometimes in limited number and hence it is difficult to guarantee availability. It is generally advisable to hold off on buying property for letting until you have checked with the local authorities about licence availability. [1] In Greece, these licences are issued by the EOT (Elliniko Organismo Tourismo).
It can be difficult to apply for a letting licence in Greece if you do not speak the language and/or cannot be there in person. For this reason, most people managing their property from abroad choose to appoint a trusted individual to act on their behalf during the application process. You can do this using a document called a Power of Attorney. Often the individual appointed will be a lawyer or estate agent, but in theory it can be anyone you trust. A PoA generally must be certified by a solicitor or notary in the UK and then legalised for use in the destination country. It is a good idea to complete this step before proceeding with the application process.
Supporting Documents
In addition to documents relating to the property, such as architectural plans, which your representative in Greece can help you obtain, there are certain public documents you will need to legalise in order to apply for a letting licence. The two most common are [2]:
- A copy of your passport
- A copy of your criminal records (in the UK, a Police certificate issued by ACRO)
In order to render a passport copy valid and legal for use in Greece, a UK solicitor or notary must certify it (signed and dated), then it must the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) must apostille it. If you have your original Police certificate, you do not need to certify it – you can have it apostilled immediately.
We know the amount of paperwork required for letting overseas can seem daunting. We’re here to help you get the most out of the experience by taking the stress out of document legalisation. At Pardus Bloom, we can facilitate this process by managing your documents for you, organising their certification, notarisation, and legalisation as needed, from the initial Power of Attorney to any documents required for your licence application. If you have any documents that require certification – even if they’re not listed on our site – please feel free to contact us.
[1] https://www.justlanded.com/english/Greece/Greece-Guide/Property/Rules-Regulations