By the Mashroom Team
Palmerston House, 51 Palmerston Street, Bollington, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 5PW.-- Culture impacts everything in day-to-day life, from food to housing choices.
Despite being in one continent, European countries differ significantly – and this includes their views on housing habits. In the UK, renting is often seen as less favourable with every resident seemingly in a rush to get onto the property ladder.
However, in many European countries, renting is seen as a better option than buying.
Tenants embrace the ‘no-ties’ attitude and the safety net of the landlord’s responsibility to fix any problems. There are many positives to renting a property instead of buying, including the lack of bank loans, so why do some countries turn their nose up at it?
Here at Mashroom, we’ve dug
into the data to reveal which European countries lead the way for embracing the
rental movement.
Best
European Country for Renting
When scored overall
based on rankings across all three categories, Germany rose through the ranks
to steal the crown with first place in two out of three categories. We looked
at; the cost of rent, the laws protecting tenants and the number of people who
rent, to determine who took the top spot.
 |
| Conti Hot Spots |
Germany’s neighbours, Austria and Belgium, came second and third respectively. Austria is famed for its extended summer vacations, long lunch breaks and short workdays, so it’s easy to see why people are drawn to living there without ties.
The graphic shows
the top 10 countries for renting, but who came bottom? With expensive rent, and
less robust tenant laws than other countries, Spain comes in last. Although in
the last 12 months they have moved to increase legal protection for renters.
Best
European Country for Renting
When scored overall based on rankings across
all three categories, Germany rose through the ranks to steal the crown with
first place in two out of three categories. We looked at; the cost of rent, the
laws protecting tenants and the number of people who rent, to determine who took
the top spot.
Germany’s neighbours, Austria and Belgium,
came second and third respectively. Austria is famed for its extended
summer vacations, long lunch breaks and short workdays, so it’s easy to see why
people are drawn to living there without ties.
 |
| Conti Most Expensive |
The graphic shows the top 10 countries for renting, but who came bottom? With expensive rent, and less robust tenant laws than other countries, Spain comes in last. Although in the last 12 months they have moved to increase legal protection for renters.
Top
18 Rental Hotspots
Germany takes the lead with the highest
percentage of renters which make up over half of the country’s population.
Germany is well known for its open-minded attitude to renting, with tenants
enjoying the no-ties lifestyle.
Slovenia came in the last place with a tiny
2.4% of the population renting property. Yet with stunning scenery, skiing and
beautiful beaches, it’s easy to see why people want to stay put in the country.
 |
| Conti Rental Laws |
Surprisingly, the UK came 8th, with almost a quarter of the population renting. As the average age of renters in the UK is 40, compared with 57 for owner-occupiers, this is a trend we could expect to see an increase over the coming years.
Cities
with the Most Expensive Rent
Berlin was determined to be the least expensive
for average monthly rent per square meter with only £6.58, this is a far cry
from £25.08 in the French capital city, Paris.
London is known as one of the most expensive
capitals in the world, the city sits on the expensive side of the scale with £18.13
in rent per month.
In the midpoint of the table, we see Warsaw,
Rome and Prague. These are all popular tourist destinations which could impact
rental prices due to the increase in local amenities.
Rental
Laws across Europe
A very important factor when renting
properties is the laws protecting tenants and landlords.
Using the Global Property
Guide, the countries were scored from 1 – strongly pro-landlord to 5
– strongly pro-tenant.
From this, we discovered that Denmark was the
only country that scored 5/5 due to having strongly pro-tenant laws. The UK,
however, came joint last and gained the description of pro-landlord.
 |
| Conti Best Rentals |
Hungary and Poland appear to strike the balance of protecting both parties. In Hungary, they have a system wherein some rental contracts, you can sign a tenancy without even mentioning the rent amount. The proposed rental amount is sent to the tenant 8 days before moving, at which point they can dispute it.
Methodology:
Using Statista we found which countries are
renting the most, and at what proportion of the population. Using Deloitte’s
Property Index 2019 we found European city’s rent per m2 and used this to
calculate the most and least expensive.
Using data from the Global Property Guide we
have ranked each country by renting laws from 1-5, with 1 as strongly
pro-landlord and 5 as strongly pro-tenant.
The
overall top cities to rent was calculated by using a ranking system based on
costs, laws and number of renters to determine the best country to rent.
CONTACTS:
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regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Their Financial Services Register number is 594620, with permitted business activities being introducing, advising, arranging, dealing as agent, assisting in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts and credit broking in relation to insurance instalment facilities.
You may check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website, www.fca.gov.uk/register/ or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768. 6768.
