After rental rates increased continually over the last year, Europe is beginning to stabilize financially. The annual core inflation rate is close to the 2% goal, and the European Central Bank has lowered interest rates. While these changes have not truly affected the markets just yet, their impacts should be long lasting. On the supply side, new inventory remains limited.
Finding a place to rent with the help of a Dwellworks expert increases the likelihood of securing a well-matched residence for any relocating employee, thanks to our local and regional on-the-ground presence, our familiarity with local market conditions, our relationship with property managers, and our ability to plan for trends based on years of experience. Start here to find information on a particular city’s rental trends and then reach out for our award-winning help with relocation home search and destination services. Start here to learn about current rental trends in key cities across Europe, and then reach out to request support from our award-winning destination services team.
Dublin: City Center Improvement, Steeper Prices in the Secondary Cities
There is improvement in the supply and demand balance in Dublin and prices have stabilized, as new construction has fully come online. However, there are limited plans for more construction, and landlords continue to leave the market due to regulations and limits on rental rates. In cities like Cork, Galway, Waterford, and Limerick, prices continue to climb due to less inventory.
The government continues to encourage the immigration of workers willing to do skilled labor, by simplifying rules for work permits and residency, which is keeping demand for rental housing high.
London: Despite Slower Price Increases, Impacts are Still Felt
Rental cost spikes have slowed considerably – currently at 5.4% compared to 10.2%. Demand, however, is still high and supply is low, and inflation is still an issue for many when it comes to affording a rental or buying a home. This is causing many to flock to suburbs around London, where prices are now rising as a result. Luckily, overbidding is not an issue just yet, with 82% of renters reporting that they are paying the advertised price for a property.
Developers and investors are waiting on a highly-contested policy change by the Labour department that could cap rent prices for the private sector.
Amsterdam: New Laws Affecting Housing Supply and Bidding Wars
The impact of the Affordable Rents Act (enacted July 2024 and impacting 100,000 properties) is being felt, with many properties in the lower budget ranges no longer available to relocating employees. This has led to overbidding for lower budget properties, and landlords have limited incentive to create new supply.
Leasing models known as Model B are now illegal. Only Model A leases require a minimum stay of 12 months and then become indefinite in nature. Termination is allowed with one full month notice after the 12-month minimum in met.
Luxembourg: Housing Availability Nears a Year of No Improvement
There is no improvement on housing availability in Luxembourg – marking almost a full year without real change in supply. Tenant rights have improved though, with government reforms that went live in August. The cost of agency fees (1 month’s rent + 17%) will now be shared 50/50 between the landlord and tenant. Security deposits are limited to 2 months’ rent, instead of the previous 3 months.
Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, and Other Key Cities: Far Behind on Housing Supply Benchmarks
Housing supply remains stagnant across Germany – with some analysts estimating the country needs to add 400,000 new rental units annually, and they are far behind that benchmark. The limited supply is causing intense bidding wars, and renters should expect 10+ applications for every listing.
As of June 2024, foreign workers living in Germany can apply for citizenship after 5 years (previously 8 years). Germany has enacted stricter overland border controls to limit illegal entries from adjacent countries, with limited impact on corporate relocation activity.
Paris: Challenges Return After the Summer Olympics
After a boom in bookings for the Paris Summer Olympics, challenges return to the Paris housing market. Rental rates in key neighborhoods are capped, disincentivizing new builds. Demand from domestic and international tenants is driving prices up in many neighborhoods.
Language proficiency and civic knowledge are new requirements for long-term residency applications.
Zurich: Home to the Fastest Growing Economy
Zurich’s economy is growing rapidly thanks to the booming tech, finance, and life sciences industries. Start-ups are also popular here, bringing in many international employees. This continues to drive rental prices up with double-digit compared to 2023.
Much of the housing inventory is also older and managed by individual landlords. More recently, investors are seeing opportunity, and new construction is on the horizon in 2025 and beyond. Companies are advised to book assignees into a short-term rental to get familiar with their housing options.
Vienna: Still a Preferred Destination for a Global Population
Vienna is still one of the most preferrable places in the world to live. The cultural amenities, good schools, low crime rates, and many other factors make the city idyllic. More than 1/3 of the residents in Vienna are foreign-born, a higher percentage than even New York City.
In Austria, private rental real estate agents are paid by those who hire them, and landlords may add the cost of broker fees to the rent if they are paying the broker’s fee.
Learn More from Dwellworks
Finding rental housing in popular destinations can be a challenge. Continue checking back to our blog and social media for housing market updates every quarter and let us put our expertise to work for you. Read our update for the fourth quarter of 2024 for North America here. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to get them and other industry news right to your inbox.
About Dwellworks:
Dwellworks is the world’s largest provider of destination-related services and temporary living solutions for the globally mobile workforce and business travelers. We provide business-to-business solutions for Fortune 1000 and emerging companies directly and through their relocation management partners. Whether a company needs to relocate its employees across the world or the country, we provide a range of support services to help employees and their families transition successfully from their home location to a new destination.
Dwellworks operates according to our core values of Integrity, Teamwork, Performance, Innovation, and Fun. These are the root of everything we do – from the Teamwork aspect of sourcing and supporting our helpful local Consultants to assist any relocating employee in hundreds of cities worldwide with their move, to the Integrity of our highly-trained Intercultural experts who are here to help transferees adjust to new cultures and confidently settle into their destination locations, to the Innovation of our myDwellworks technology platform that familiarizes employees on assignment with their destination and enables customized conversations on properties, schools, and situation-specific needs.
Dwellworks supports the diversity of our clients’ globally mobile workforce with personalized destination solutions in 16 countries, covering major relocation markets. Dwellworks has consistently responded to the mobility services and needs of our global clients. In 2020, Dwellworks launched Dwellworks Living to expand our original portfolio of corporate housing markets into a full-service corporate housing operation, offering alternative accommodations for relocation and business travel customers in 125 countries. Our full-service real estate brokerage, Station Cities, supports home rentals, sales, and purchases in the Tri-State New York area and Chicago. Visit our homepage, learn about our services, and read our blogs to learn how we can help with your relocation and business travel needs.
