He access to housing It is not only a problem in Argentina, in the main cities of Europe, the Lack of supply of apartments led rental prices to all-time highs.
After the pandemic, specialized international workers, who earn more than national workers in some cases, began to move to large cities such as Paris, Dublin, Berlin and Lisbon, at the same time that the face-to-face reactivation of universities made cities like London and Amsterdam also once again increase their demand for housing.
So the dynamics of sharp rent increases what happened after the pandemic in the old continent worsened due to the small size of its main cities that are filled with people and the high concentration of historic buildings and low risewhich makes the offer is scarce.
“The prices of rentals are increasing and that is complicating life, especially for people who do not have generational wealth” (which are the financial assets that are inherited in the family), he pointed out. Christine Whiteheadprofessor of housing economics at the London School of Economics.
Rentals in Europe: a generational problem
He price increase generates greater inequalitybecause to have access to housing the person must allocate a greater proportion of their income. In this sense, the professor from the London School of Economics highlighted the difference that exists between a 25-year-old person who is looking for a rent in front of their parents, who are already owners and, in some cases, even have a rental property.
“There is a huge difference between a 25-year-old person who looking for a housewith some parents, who are already owners and have rented propertiesand some young people who start completely alone”, he pointed out.
In Amsterdam renting is difficult even for college students with local support. The shortage of housing in the Dutch capital is due to the fact that it is a city highly chosen by foreigners. Around 18,000 people moved to the Dutch city from other countries in 2022.
Rentals and companies with tax benefits
This is because not only have your companies expanded the workforce, but you also have a lower tax burden to that of other capitals, which attracted large international companies as Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and netflix inc (NFLX), which have established their European headquarters there.
Strong population growth left the city with a shortage of around 200,000 homesas noted by the city government in a recent report.
And other capitals of the old continent are in a similar situation. The population of Dublinin Ireland, for example, has grown by almost 12% in the last decade and the tax breaks government generated incentives for which companies pharmaceutical and technological global, like Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Google by Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) and Pfizer Inc. (PFE) establish their European headquarters there.
These same companies frequently point out that the living place It is one of the main challenges for the recruitment and retention of human resources. The low cost aviation company Ryanair Holdings Plc. rented student accommodation for the summer to house staff and is considering buying apartments for their workers, according to local media reports.
In zurichseat of the major google research center outside the United States, the apartment offer it is only 0.07%, which generates huge queues to see the properties, of up to more than 100 people.
In turn, another of the reasons for the lack of offer and the price increasein many Eastern European cities, has to do with the population increase product of the sudden influx of people from the war in Ukraine. rental prices in Estonia they increased by 22% in 2022, according to Eurostat. It is one of the main destinations for Ukrainian refugees.
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Despite population growthgovernments try to find a solution to the housing problembut haven’t found it yet. Some measures are more in favor of the market, such as subsidize part of the rentothers are more prohibitive such as price regulation and others promote the realization of state housing.
but with a inflationary inertia so high and ecological policies construction prices rise, so few governments are achieving build new homes fast enough to meet demand.
The Home building in the Netherlands it was well below the target set last year of building around 100,000 new properties a year by 2030, with affordable housing accounting for two-thirds of the total.
Source: Ambito
