Between 2010 and the first quarter of 2021, rents increased by 15.3% in the European Union, according to Eurostat.
Separate data gathered by Europe s statistics office showed that, in 2020, the estimated average rent levels for apartments was the highest in Dublin, followed by Copenhagen, then Paris, Luxembourg and Stockholm.
Colm Lauder, head of real estate at investment bank Goodbody, told CNBC that he expects rental prices to keep rising. He said: In Ireland, we are concerned that [rent] controls will stop capital coming through.
A vicious cycle
Property investors see a significant downside in rent controls in that they cap returns. In the case of Ireland, rent increases in certain areas are limited at 4% per year.
Apartment-hunting in Berlin: A lottery
Barbara Steenbergen, head of the EU liaison office at the International Union of Tenants (IUT), is delighted with the rent cap. It s a blessing, she told DW. Like many NGOs, the IUT has been offering tenants an online tool to calculate how much their rent could be reduced by, and among those who checked, the average rent reduction turned out to be €210 ($255) per month: The people really say it s a relief, she said. It s like a wage increase. The IUT estimates that 365,000 people in the city now have the right to reduce their rent.
But the response from Jürgen Michael Schick, president of the German Real Estate Association (IVD), is scathing. The rent cap is a catastrophe for the Berlin housing market, he said in an email. It obstructs the construction of new apartments, even though Berlin is tens of thousands of apartments short every year. It obstructs the modernization of existing apartments. It limits the supply of apartments
Soon to be voted on by the European Parliament, a new resolution could remove many constraints and kickstart an economic aid plan to eliminate the housing problem on the old continent.
The lack of affordable housing is affecting more than 80 million people in Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic made the situation even worse, with an increasing number of people struggling to pay their rent or energy bill. But what comes just at the surface has longer structural reasons, rooted in more profound housing inequalities and which risk jeopardise the very essence of our society.Â
Housing is a human right that must be guaranteed to everybody.
For a socially just and sustainable recovery, we need to make sure that every citizen benefits from decent, affordable and sustainable housing.
Progressive cities and regions have already put in place innovative solutions that can inspire further action on the ground. At the same time, we need a proper European framework. Leaving no one behind means first of all leaving no one without a roof over their head.
The Globe and Mail Published January 13, 2021
DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
For 50 years, Vancouver has been a predominantly renter city, and with the price of real estate what it is, that demographic will only grow bigger. That means government needs to step up its game in order to supply a growing region with the affordable and secure rental housing that it needs.
That will be the topic of a virtual panel discussion held jointly by Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the City of Vancouver, called Towards a More Equitable Housing System: Is Vancouver a City for Renters?
One of the event panelists is Evan Siddall, president and chief executive officer of Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation. The CMHC, Mr. Siddall says, has helped reverse the significant decline that B.C. had seen in rental housing construction in the past several decades, since condominiums became more profitable when they started coming online in the 1970s.