More and more landlords are offering furnished apartments at higher prices. Nelson Martinez via Getty Images
In Germany, apartments are increasingly being rented out furnished – according to a study by Oxford Economics, the proportion of furnished adverts has risen by 45 percent over the past nine years.
The reason for this is that more and more apartments are being brokered ‘underhand’ and do not appear on the free housing market.
This development exacerbates the tense situation on the housing market – there is a need for action above all with the regulations for temporary housing.
“I’m looking for a new tenant for my beautiful old building in the north of Friedrichshain” – the key data: two rooms, 80 square meters, 673 euros total rent. What sounds like a dream from today’s perspective is one Advertisement on the website wg-gesucht.de from 2013.
A lot has changed on the housing market in the ten years since it was published – rising rents and a shortage of housing characterize the situation in Germany. Part of this development is also the increased occurrence of rental apartments that are offered furnished.
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Furnished apartments are usually more expensive than unfurnished ones
The portal Immobilienscout24 wrote in one press release in March that the proportion of furnished apartments nationwide is increasing sharply. In the five largest German cities, more than every third rental apartment is now furnished on average.
A look at the listings on Immobilienscout24 confirms the trend: if you are looking for listings for “temporary furnished apartments in Berlin”, one finds 3128 advertisements. For comparison: there are 2482 Advertisements for rental apartmentsthat are not furnished.
As the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ) schreibt, these offers are often a nuisance for those looking for an apartment, as they are usually offered at significantly higher prices than unfurnished apartments.
In the meantime, politicians have also become aware of the topic: the FDP-led Federal Ministry of Justice commissioned a study from the consulting firm Oxford Economics, which is available to the “FAZ”. Accordingly, the proportion of furnished apartments in the advertisements has increased by 45 percent in the past nine years.
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Action required for temporary rental
According to “FAZ”, the study by Oxford Economics states that the increase in such advertisements is not due to the fact that conditions on the housing market have shifted. Rather, the reason for the development is that more and more owners no longer advertise their rental apartments at all. Instead, they would pass them on to friends or acquaintances.
Immobilienscout24 sees it differently: Managing Director Dr. Gesa Crockford explainedthat the rapid increase in furnished apartments is partly due to regulations on the rental market such as the rental price brake.
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According to the “FAZ”, this can only be partially due to the legal situation itself – because the rental price brake also applies to furnished apartments. According to the report, the study by Oxford Economics sees no signs that the rental price cap has led to a systematic conversion of empty into furnished apartments. On the other hand, there is a need for action with regard to the regulations on temporary rentals, to which the rental price brake does not apply.
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