Does anyone know what has changed in Greece to complicate the issue

Their debt crisis is what's happened. The Greek Government is trying to both clamp down on tax evasion and increase its revenues in any way possible. It has been putting all types of taxes up including taxes on second homes and the rental income that people, including non-Greek residents and citizens, receive from them. The following news report will give shed some light on this for you:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7587332/British-and-German-property-owners-in-Greece-face-new-tax.html

And this gives an indication of just how complicated renting out property in Greece has become:

http://livingingreece.gr/2011/09/19/new-property-tax-greece/

I guess that for the time being the people who own the villa you are renting have decided that it's not worth the hassle involved to keep renting it out - or at least do not want to draw attention to the fact that they are renting it out.

SM

Given they have said they will honour the booking I think it's

do not want to draw attention to the fact that they are renting it out.

welcome to the Black Market! Take cash.....

Thanks both - the villa's owners are English - we/our family have used this particular villa twice before a few years ago and paid by sterling cheque direct to the owners here in the UK; SMa - suspect you are right - we will have to make a decision mid April as to whether to pay the balance or whether to lose our deposit and find somewhere safer on Rhodes(financially that is!!) - we can't write the holiday off because we have already paid upfront for the the flights

we will have to make a decision mid April as to whether to pay the balance or whether to lose our deposit and find somewhere safer on Rhodes(financially that is!!)

I can't see what difference it will make - whoever you rent from is going to be in the same position - and personally I would feel safer dealing with someone

a) You have rented from in the past without any problems and can be assumed to be more reliable than someone you've never had any delaings with in the past.

b) who knows that you know where they live - you presumably had an address to which you posted and will be posting the cheques - and so if things do go wrong you can pursue redress through the English court system?

c) who is UK based and conducting the rental arrangement in £sterling - at least you know that you won't be affected by any uncertainty re the Euro and whether Greece will still be in the Euro zone.

They've said that they'll honour your booking and unless you have any other grounds for doubting this I wouldn't be worrying. What happens between them and the Greek tax system is their problem not yours and is going to apply to every other villa available for holiday lets anyway.

SM

Unless I've missed something here, why would you cancel? Your booking is confirmed, the owners will honour it but won't be taking any further bookings. I can't see a reason not to carry on particularly as you have dealt with them before.

I think the owners have acted professionally and responsibily informing you why their villa is no longer listed. If they hadn't informed you in advance and you couldn't find it on the listing site you normally see it then perhaps you might have cause for concern.

Hi again, thanks for helpful responses - the main reason that we are worried is that we are taking our 10 month old granddaughter with us - so obviously, we want as smooth an experience as possible!!
Also there have been some negative comments made in various places about the status of this particular group of villas which are mostly British or German owned.

Also there have been some negative comments made in various places about the status of this particular group of villas

Do you mean that there are question marks over whether the people you are renting from really do have legal title to the villa?

SM

SM - No,its not to do with ownership.I've just had a reply from the owner - it concerns the issue of an EOT licence by the Greek Tourism office. I'm in the middle of trying to research at the moment but apparently very few villas in Greece have such a licence,which was originally intended for hotels (??)- but the Greeks have suddenly started to clamp down. Not only is it very expensive/time consuming to get,but from the sound of it, the majority of villas won't meet requirements in terms of minimum room sizes etc. It isn't an issue if you are not offering short term lets (<3 months) but the impression I'm getting,is that owners who continue to advertise may well be fined quite heavily, which is why our villa owner is only honoring existing bookings already made for this season. She has promised to contact me if anything changes.

In that case, if it was me, I wouldn't be unduly worried and would continue with my plans as before though I understand why you are trying to make sure that things go as smoothly as possible in your circumstances. Greek bureacracy grinds exceedingly slowly and I can see why the owners have decided that it's not worth a candle but it shouldn't affect you from the sound of it this year.

SM