A guide by mamaXO — rental management in Athens

A student lease: who signs, and what gets declared

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The official ΑΑΔΕ service «Μισθωτήρια ακινήτων» — the same one for every residential tenancy. There is no separate student procedure.

A student tenancy is an ordinary residential lease. It is usually signed in the student’s name, with a parent as guarantor. The landlord declares it on myAADE (Taxisnet) by the end of the month after the start (ΠΟΛ.1162/2018) and the student accepts within 30 days (Α.1068/2025). The housing benefit asks for an active electronic lease.

Last updated: September 2026

  1. Lease signedthe day the lease startsYou are here
  2. Declared in myAADE by the landlordby the end of the following month
  3. Accepted by the tenant30 days from the notification
  4. Proof of declaration (PDF)printed whenever needed: electricity, bank, housing benefit
  5. Ended or reneweddeclared by the end of the following month

Our free agreement carries a guarantor and two tenants, ready for September. On the properties we run, we also check a candidate’s papers before the viewing.

Who signs: the student or the parent?

Two different roles, and the difference only shows when something goes wrong. The tenant is the one renting: they live there, they go into the ΑΑΔΕ filing and they do the acceptance. A guarantor does not rent — they undertake to pay what is owed if the tenant does not.

Who goes in as tenant? One question, three answers

Will something have to be issued in the student’s name — the benefit, the electricity, a bank account?

  1. Yes, it will

    Student as tenant, parent as guarantor

    The student’s tax number, their own credentials, their own acceptance. The parent signs as guarantor.

  2. No, it will not

    Parent as tenant

    The parent’s tax number and their acceptance. The student’s name does not appear in the filing.

  3. Two students are sharing

    Two tenants in one declaration

    Two tax numbers, and each accepts separately with their own credentials.

The answer changes only who goes in as tenant. The deadline, the three-year minimum and the deposit ceiling are the same in all three.

Student as tenant, parent as guarantor

The tenant is the one who lives there and owes; certificates come out in their name. Without the student’s tax number nothing can be filed.

Parent as tenant

The obligations are the parent’s, and so is the acceptance. Check first what the office that will see the lease asks for — some want the student named.

Both as tenants

Two names, two sets of obligations, and each accepts separately. The same mechanics as two students sharing a flat.

The guarantor is written into the agreement, with their details and their signature — that is where the guarantee lives and nowhere else. If the text does not name them, there is no guarantor, whatever was said at the viewing.

Two tax numbers, one filing, thirty days to accept

A student lease is declared like any other: the landlord files by the end of the calendar month following the start, and the student accepts within 30 days of the notification. September is the month with the most of them: a tenancy starting 15 September is declared by 31 October.

What is needed before the filing goes in

  1. Tax numbers for both sides

    The landlord’s and the student’s. If the student does not have one yet — common for first-years and for students arriving from abroad — the declaration cannot be filed, and the deadline runs anyway.

  2. ΑΤΑΚ (the property’s 9- to 11-digit number from the Ε9 form), ΠΕΑ (energy certificate) and the property details

    The energy certificate number — this is what holds up September filings, because it is not issued the same day. The landlord’s ΑΤΑΚ is optional.

  3. Sign the agreement

    Two signed copies, with the rent, the deposit, the dates and the guarantor if there is one. No notary is needed.

  4. File it, then accept it

    The landlord files from Εφαρμογές → Φορολογικές Υπηρεσίες → Ακίνητα → Δηλώσεις μίσθωσης ακινήτων → Είσοδος στην Εφαρμογή and submits it for good; the student logs in with their own credentials and presses accept. With no action inside the 30 days the declaration counts as accepted — but the certificate is what the student needs.

Two or three students sharing: one declaration listing all the tenants, each accepting separately. Who pays what between themselves is a term of their agreement — towards the landlord, what the text says is what applies, which is why it is worth saying something.

After the signature, the student accepts the lease

Thirty days, with their own credentials — and then they print the certificate the housing benefit asks for.

The three-year minimum applies to a student flat too

There is no student exception. A residential lease runs for at least three years even if a shorter or open-ended term is written into the agreement, and the academic calendar does not change that.

What it means in practice

Write the term you agreed — twelve months, say. The law gives the tenant three years of protection, and the landlord cannot shorten that unilaterally because the paper says otherwise.

How it can be shortened lawfully

Only by notarial deed, and no earlier than six months after the tenancy starts. A clause inside the private agreement is not enough.

If the student leaves early

What is owed when someone leaves early is decided by the terms of the agreement and by what the two sides settle. We found no provision giving a general right to walk away inside the three years, so we do not state one.

The student housing benefit: what it asks of the lease

The benefit asks for an active electronic lease — a declaration that has been filed and accepted, not just a signed piece of paper. That part depends on the landlord, and it is the only part we state with certainty.

  • The declaration is filed and active — not terminated, not half-finished.
  • The student has accepted it, so the certificate can be printed from their own tab.
  • The filed details match the agreement: address, dates, amount.

Everything else — who qualifies, the income thresholds, when applications open, which documents are asked for — is set by the ministerial decision of the year and changes. We print no figures here: last year’s number would cost somebody an application. Check the current decision before you apply.

Write the agreement before September arrives

The free builder writes the lease in three minutes, with a guarantor, a deposit and two tenants where needed, and works out the date by which the filing has to go in.

Deadlines and laws at a glance

Checked against the sources on:

  • Deadline to declare the lease to ΑΑΔΕ

    By the end of the calendar month following the lease start, by the landlord, on myAADE.

    ΠΟΛ.1162/2018, άρθρο 1 §1α

    Taxheaven — ΠΟΛ.1162/2018 κωδικοποιημένη ·

  • Acceptance by the tenant

    30 days from notification to accept or reject; with no action the declaration counts as accepted. For declarations filed from 02.06.2025.

    Απόφαση ΑΑΔΕ Α.1068/2025

    Lawspot, 06.06.2025 ·

  • Minimum term of a residential lease

    3 years, even if a shorter or open-ended term is agreed; it can be shortened only by notarial deed at least 6 months after the start.

    Άρθρο 2 §1 ν.1703/1987, όπως αντικαταστάθηκε από το άρθρο 1 §5 ν.2235/1994

    Lawspot — κείμενο νόμου ·

  • Deposit

    Up to two months’ rent; returned without interest at the end, once the property is handed back.

    Άρθρο 2 §2 ν.1703/1987

    Lawspot — κείμενο νόμου ·

Sources

Questions parents ask

Is a student lease something different?
No. It is a residential tenancy, with the same rules, the same declaration and the same deadlines. There is no separate student form and no separate procedure.
Should the parent sign, or the student?
Either works. If the lease will be used for anything in the student’s name, make the student the tenant and the parent the guarantor. If the parent is the tenant, their tax number goes into the filing and the acceptance is theirs.
What does a guarantor actually take on?
Whatever the agreement says they take on — usually the rent owed and the tenant’s obligations if the tenant does not meet them. The guarantee exists only in writing and only inside the text that was signed.
Does the student need a Greek tax number?
Yes, if the student is the tenant: the lease declaration requires a tax number for both sides and cannot be submitted without one. The landlord’s deadline is not extended because the number is slow to arrive.
Can we sign for one academic year only?
You can agree a twelve-month term and write it down. But the law gives a residential tenancy a minimum of three years (Law 1703/1987, άρθρο 2 §1), and it can be shortened only by notarial deed at least six months after the start. There is no student exception.
Two students in one flat — one lease or two?
One, with two tenants and two tax numbers in the same declaration; each accepts separately. How they split the rent and the bills between themselves is a term of the agreement.
What does the student housing benefit need from the lease?
An active electronic lease: a filed and accepted declaration whose details match the agreement. The criteria, the amounts and the application dates are set by the ministerial decision of the year and change — check the current one before relying on any figure.
The landlord wants three months up front, in cash. Is that all right?
A residential deposit cannot exceed two months’ rent (Law 1703/1987, άρθρο 2 §2); the first month’s rent is rent and counts separately. For rent, payment into a landlord bank account notified to ΑΑΔΕ has been enacted (Law 5222/2025, άρθρο 210) with a start date that has been deferred — check the current one with ΑΑΔΕ. Either way, ask for a receipt for everything you hand over.

mamaXO is a rental management company, not a law or accounting firm. Deadlines and articles are stated as they stood on the day checked, with the source next to each. The benefit criteria are not ours to set.

What next? 3 steps — none of them required

mamaXO is a rental-management company in Athens. The tools are free; we earn only if one day you hand us the flat.

  1. Keep it in a free account

    The contract stored, your ΑΑΔΕ deadline worked out, documents in one place. No time limit, no card.

  2. Find a tenant — list it free

    A live listing on mamaXO with 3 photos; you run the viewings yourself. Free, for as many flats as you have.

  3. Or hand it all to us — Autopilot, 10% + VAT

    Tenant search and checks, contract, ΑΑΔΕ filing, rent collection, repairs, a monthly statement — all by us. Only on rent that arrived; nothing while the flat is empty.

    The decisions stay yours, as you set them in the mandate.

Letting to students every September?

Leave a phone number and the area. Someone from our Athens team calls within one working day: tenant checks, the agreement, the filing and collection become our job — or we tell you Free is enough.

Phone or email — whichever suits you.

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