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Thousands of Berlin holiday apartments may soon be put back on the rental market, thanks to a recent court ruling. And the EU has made it easier for cities to make space affordable.
By John O'Donnell
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 downs...
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 respo...
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.