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Tirana, the second capital in Europe for the burden of rent to salary

2026-08-09 10:03:12Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
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In Tirana, the average rental price for May 2026 reached 710 euros per month and to afford it, an individual with an average net income of 760 euros per month had to spend an average of 93% of their salary on housing, according to data from the "Tradingpedia" report, which compared average rents with net incomes for 127 European cities.

With an average rent of 710 euros per month, the Albanian capital ranks behind the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, where the average rent of 1,331 euros accounts for 99% of monthly income.

Following Tirana is Kiev, where rent costs accounted for 88% of the average salary. In May in Kiev, the average rent reached 558 euros per month, while the average net salary reached 637 euros per month.

The data shows that although rents in Tirana remain lower in value compared to other European cities, such as Porto in Portugal where the average rent reaches 1,108 euros per month or in Malaga in Spain 1,195 euros per month, the low level of average net income has made housing in Tirana among the most unaffordable in Europe.

Even in Pristina, despite monthly rental prices for May reaching 326 euros per month, among the lowest, an individual must spend 56% of the average net income (reaching 583 euros per month for May 2026) to afford housing.

Even in other cities like Constanta in Romania, where the average rent has reached 531 euros per month, it remains unaffordable. An individual must spend 64% of their net monthly income.

How is the formalization of rental structures affecting

Anyone who rents apartments for daily rent on Airbnb and Booking is not required to open a NIPT, but must declare their income through DIVA and pay a 15% tax.

The legal obligation to formalize short-term rentals and the application of a 15% income tax are affecting the way the daily rental market is organized in Albania.

According to recent developments in the real estate sector, many owners who own one or two apartments are moving from daily rentals to long-term rentals, due to higher operating costs, taxation, and the need for more frequent property management.

On the other hand, the short-term rental segment is increasingly consolidated among professional operators and real estate agencies, which manage larger property portfolios and offer full services such as marketing, maintenance, and booking management on digital platforms such as Airbnb.

Real estate agents estimate that this development is creating a new market segmentation, where owners who own only one property are orienting themselves towards long-term rentals for greater income stability, while daily rentals are focusing on agency-managed structures.

The Tax Administration has also announced that during 2024, over 8,472 individuals and entities were registered in Albania that generated income from renting out accommodations through the Airbnb platform.

According to official data, the total value of reservations for this period has reached around 3.8 billion lek, or around 40 million euros, while platform commissions are around 167.5 million lek.

The Tax Administration has announced several times that it has data on these transactions and has asked individuals and entities that have benefited from short-term rental income through the platform to complete the Annual Individual Personal Income Declaration (DIVA 2025), in accordance with the tax law in force.

The administration has warned that failure to declare income may result in tax audits and penalties, while accurate declaration is considered a legal obligation to avoid problems with fiscal authorities.

However, some of these individuals have not been formalized, prompting the adoption of measures to record and tax this activity carried out in the informal market.

Notwithstanding the above, the General Directorate of Taxes emphasizes that it has taken a series of measures regarding the identification of individuals who generate income from the daily or non-daily rental of real estate.

To identify individuals who rent out properties for daily rent and formalize them, Taxes initiated identification through the commissions paid by them on the Booking platform.

The Directorate of Investigation has also designed a pilot project to record this data, through tax representatives in Albania who rent out properties on Booking or AirBnb platforms.

The project foresees that the number of landlords identified through paid commissions, for formalization, will be cross-referenced with a series of data, including declarations in the Annual Individual Income Tax Declaration (DIVA), with the aim of withholding 15% of the withholding tax on untaxed income./ Monitor


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