Living in big cities Lots of tenants at the Load limit

Status: 15.06.2021 12:51 p.m.

The high rental prices in many large cities mean that many tenants are on the verge of financial problems. Scarce income and housing are a bad mix, as a recent study shows. When it comes to rent, many households in large cities have to raise so much money that they are above the 30 percent mark of household income. This is the result of a study published by the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation. According to this, 49.2 percent of the around 8.4 million households that rent in Germany’s major cities are above this threshold. A good quarter of households have to spend at least 40 percent of their income on rent including heating and ancillary costs. Almost twelve percent of large city households even required more than half of their income for rent, i.e. rent including heating and ancillary costs.

06/10/2021

Bremen at the top

“For social scientists as well as real estate experts, a rent burden quota above 30 percent of household income is problematic, especially for households with lower incomes, because then there is only relatively little money left for the rest of life,” says the foundation’s study. Many landlords would also draw a line here because they doubted that tenants with less income would be able to afford their apartment in the long term. In Cologne, for example, the proportion of households that have to live with a rent burden rate of more than 30 percent is 46.4 percent. In Berlin it is 43.8 percent. In Bremen, the share is greatest at 47.5 percent. For the study, a research team led by urban sociologist Andrej Holm from Berlin’s Humboldt University evaluated the latest available data from the 2018 microcensus.

05/27/2021

Unfortunately, poorer households more so

Overall, according to the study, the financial burden on tenants has decreased over the past few years, because even with residents of large cities, incomes have increased more on average than housing costs. The mean exposure rate of tenant households fell in 2018 from 31.2 percent of income in 2001 to 29.6 percent. For many poorer households in particular, the situation has hardly relaxed, for them rent continues to be a particularly big financial problem. The authors see a further “polarization” of the housing situation. A comparison over time from 2006 to 2018 also shows “that social inequalities in the area of ​​housing have worsened and high rental costs have solidified”.

FAQ 08/22/2019

Overload rate decreased slightly

The Federal Statistical Office had also analyzed the burden on households with housing costs. According to his data, almost 14 percent of the population, i.e. around 11.4 million people, lived in households that were financially overburdened by high housing costs. The authority sees an overload of housing costs when a household spends more than 40 percent of the available income on housing. This applies regardless of whether the person concerned is renting or living in their own four walls and paying off a loan, for example. According to Destatis, the overload rate has decreased slightly since 2014.

09/23/2014

There are no apartments

The Böckler study comes to the conclusion that the housing shortage in large cities has been “at best slightly alleviated” despite increased construction activity. Above all, there was a lack of small and inexpensive apartments, and the supply had become significantly scarcer over the years. Nationwide, there is a supply deficit of over 1.5 million apartments, which would be missing even with a hypothetically assumed optimal distribution of living space in large cities, explained Holm. The German Tenants’ Association is also calling for more apartments. A few days ago, he asked the next federal government to invest heavily in social housing and a nationwide six-year rent freeze. The federal government must provide a “much-needed breather for all tenants” until more new apartments are built. According to the tenants’ association, at least 30 percent of rental apartments would have to be in public or cooperative management in order to curb the price spiral. At present, every second tenant household in large cities is afraid of no longer being able to pay for the apartment, the association president, Lukas Siebenkotten, had determined.

05/06/2021

More income would help

Study author Holm advocates a multi-pronged approach: In addition to instruments to protect existing rents, among other things, social and non-profit housing “should be considerably strengthened with the most permanent rental agreements possible,” he advised. Another crucial key to social housing provision, however, is the income situation of the tenants. Without effective measures to dissolve the widespread low-wage sector, social housing cannot be guaranteed in large cities, according to Holm.

Having just opened the service on Quote Sai Street (Tay Ho, Hanoi) for 4 months, Mr. Trong Dat – the owner of the store – said that since the Covid-19 translation, people’s demand for on-site fitness and travel has increased. . “Grasping this trend, I opened a bicycle rental service and attracted a lot of customers,” he said. At the store, he has about 50 cars for rent, each one costs 40,000 VND / 3 hours weekdays and 50,000 VND / 3 hours on weekends and holidays. “Customers often rent in the early morning and late afternoon. Weekends are always ‘burned’ cars, many people often have to wait for their turn,” he said. Bicycle rental services in West Lake can bring in revenue of up to several million / day. Photo: Thanh Thuong. According to Mr. Dat, in order to ensure the quality and the needs of customers well, after the customer’s trip, he must inspect each part, repair and maintain. “To rent bicycles, guests only need to leave ID card or citizenship ID, return the motorbike,” he added. His shop is open from 5 am to 24 pm, in addition, his shop also rents bicycles for 100,000 VND / 3 hours for weekdays and 120,000 VND / 3 hours for weekends and holidays. Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Hai – the owner of a bicycle purchase, sale, repair and rental shop on Quote Sai Street – said that in spring and early summer, the weather is nice, so cycling in West Lake is an activity to attract people. Tourists experience, exercise, take pictures. At Mr. Hai’s store, there are about 70 cars, most of them are imported from Japan. Car rental is calculated by the hour with a fixed price of 40,000 VND / 3 hours excluding weekdays and weekends. “On weekends, with nice sunny weather, I rent out 150-200 cars at most. In addition to renting, I also repair, buy and sell bicycles for customers in need”, he shared. With an average price of 40,000 VND / time about 3 hours, West Lake bicycle rental service attracts all ages from young to old. Photo: Nhu Nae. According to Mr. Hai, doing this service on a crowded day can earn a few million dong, but on a weekday, in bad weather, it only earns a few hundred thousand dong. “Bicycle rental is rarely risky, since I rented a bicycle until now there have been no cases of car theft or money loss,” he added. Also on Quote Sai street, another bicycle rental shop has just opened. The owner of this store said that on average, his shop can rent 80-100 cars per day. “At first, the number of cars at the store was small, I plan to import more cars in 1-2 months to meet the needs of customers,” he said. Since knowing that there is a bicycle rental service in West Lake, Nhung (Dong Da, Hanoi) and friends often invite each other to cycle on weekends. “Because my house is far away, I often come here by motorbike and rent a bicycle. This is a sports activity that helps to relax the spirit very well after a hard working week,” said Nhung. In addition, in West Lake there is a rental service for SUP, Kayak boats at a cost of about 200,000 VND / boat without time limit, attracting visitors to participate in the experience.