HousingAnywhere publishes its first Public Policy Digest on rent regulation in Europe

• Structural shortages in the supply of housing solutions and rising living costs are causing rents in major cities to take off
• Collaboration of all stakeholders is needed to restore balance in the housing market
• Housing availability, affordability, and accessibility are the cornerstones of well-functioning housing markets

Rotterdam, December 13, 2022 - HousingAnywhere, Europe's largest international student and young professional housing platform, has compiled its first white paper on rent regulation in Europe, the Public Policy Digest. The European leader in housing solutions for the mid- to long-term, which has a presence in more than 40 European cities in 13 countries, analyses the latest developments in the housing market to better understand the role and relationship of private and public stakeholders in the recent housing crisis. The three cornerstones HousingAnywhere highlights to make the ecosystem sustainable are housing availability, affordability, and accessibility.

The fundamental cause of housing market crises across Europe is the structural shortage of available housing. With the end of mobility restrictions early this year, there was an increase in international travel for study and work. In countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, also many internationals were attracted. At this juncture, governments may be well-advised to pause to listen to the societal and psychological needs of people, such as the trend towards mobility and flexibility, before intervening. This may help them develop balanced policies, timely and intelligent responses to contemporary housing problems. For instance, governments may encourage new housing concepts, such as co-living, or re-allocate existing (commercial) spaces for residential purposes.

Many European (university) cities are struggling with rental costs being on the rise, while inflation is at unprecedented levels. According to HousingAnywhere’s latest International Rent Index Q3/2022, the average rental price in major European cities has increased by 16.5 percent since last year. With local and international young talent competing for the limited stock of rental housing, affordability puts a question mark over cities’ ability to sustainably attract, and retain these young talent. European governments realise that students and young professionals prefer renting to owning because of the flexibility and deferral costs offered by this option. The government intervenes by introducing caps on rent growth or introducing subsidies to counter rising living costs. These, however, are temporary solutions only. The only definitive solution to make housing permanently more affordable for all is to intervene in availability.

It has become less affordable for people to live in city centres, and therefore more and more people choose to live outside city centres in order to enjoy a higher quality of life at more affordable prices. This poses both a challenge as well as an opportunity for European metropolises: They may consider adapting their urban projects to the enhancement and transformation of more suburban areas to cater for new lifestyles. Such projects have already happened in Milan with the NoLo district, or also in Vienna with the Seestadt. In this scenario, technology and data offer valuable support to assess the accessibility to physical infrastructure and highlight points for improvement, as well as to help people in making conscious housing choices.

“Our first Public Policy Digest proposes a need to address the three cornerstones of availability, affordability, and accessibility, to make the housing market sustainably stronger. It highlights a need to act together, now. We need to be ambitious and act on time to take on the challenges of the present,” says Djordy Seelmann, CEO of HousingAnywhere.

The housing market is a complex multilayered matter, which requires a joint and unified response from the actors in the ecosystem. In fact, if we wanted to integrate one last cornerstone, it would definitely be shared responsibility (Accountability) among all stakeholders in this constantly evolving market. By involving all private and public stakeholders in the housing ecosystem, we can make sure we have our finger on the pulse of the time and develop collective solutions that respond to evolving social housing and living desires.

For more information, read the first edition of the Public Policy Digest here.

About HousingAnywhere

HousingAnywhere is Europe’s largest rental accommodation marketplace. With the full ownership of Kamernet and the acquisition of majority stakes of Studapart, the company represents 20 million+ yearly unique visitors, 160,000+ properties available for rent and 96,000+ tenants finding their new homes in Europe, based on the 2021 performance. Young professionals and students, mostly aged between 18 and 35, looking to rent a home are matched with accommodation providers; ranging from private real estate owners to large-scale property managers. Through its advanced platform, tenants typically book for longer stays outside of their country of origin and rent accommodation for 3 to 12 months. The company aims to help 130,000+ people find a home in Europe in 2022. The Rotterdam-based technology scale-up currently employs 260 people.

Note for press

For more information or to request visuals, please contact Nomzamo Moalusi, Brand and Communications Manager - press@housinganywhere.com.

The report is also available in Spanish, Italian, German and Dutch.

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