The scarce offer of apartments for permanent rent hits tenants squarely. In all the cities in which the temporary rental platforms were deployed, the problem of access to housing worsened.
The scarce supply of apartments in rent permanent hits tenants squarely. In all the cities in which the temporary rental platforms were deployed, the problem of access to housing worsened. Argentina is not the exception. This new investigation of the Urban Area of the CEM (Centro de Estudios Metropolitanos) reveals that there are almost 30,000 active offers for temporary rentals in the 22 Argentine cities and that 89% are houses that are fully rented.
Given this situation, Guadalupe Granero, coordinator of the Urban area and one of the authors of the report, states: “While the housing deficit in Argentina grows, it is necessary to control dynamics that, such as the growth of temporary rentals, contribute to aggravate it. It is urgent to coordinate actions between the different levels of government to generate adequate information and implement actions that regulate the activity, with the premise of guaranteeing the right to housing”.
The rise of corporate and multi-host hosts, on the other hand, also indicates that a concentration is taking place in the temporary rental market, which could make competition more difficult and further reduce the supply of housing for those looking to rent to long term.
“The phenomenon of temporary rental via platforms jeopardizes access to decent housing from a new flank. This is a global phenomenon that in Argentina has accelerated strongly in recent times in a macroeconomic context that makes the possibility of dollarizing profits for property owners increasingly attractive. In addition, this activity takes particular dynamics in each city, although it has a common denominator: the increase in cost and precariousness of a human right that as such must be guaranteed by the State at all levels”, contributes Fernando Bercovich, member of the Urban area of the CEM.
“Leaving urban planning and the right to housing in the hands of the market removes the possibility of access to housing, not only owned but also rented. Temporary rental is undoubtedly one more threat and that is why it is essential that, as is the case all over the world, the state intervenes guaranteeing this right. The platform economy, like all technology, is neither good nor bad, but the state must guarantee respect for current regulations and establish regulations where they do not yet exist”, adds the director of the CEM, Matías Barroetaveña.
Source: Ambito
