Apartment rent in Lithuania’s biggest cities continues rapidly going up. As a result, students especially could be pushed from the housing rental market. Because of this, some politicians have suggested adopting a rent ceiling in the country, as reported by Lithuania public media LRT.
«Rent in Vilnius has increased by an average of 20%, in Kaunas – by approximately 16%, and in Klaipeda rent has gone up 30%,» said Viktorija Steponavičiūtė head of the property listing service aruodas.lt.
Currently budget class apartment in Vilnius with a bathroom and kitchen costs more than EUR 400 a month. Last year similar apartments cost approximately EUR 100 less.
Price is a major factor for students, says Marius Čiulada from Oberhaus real estate agency.
«You don’t rent on your own, so you look for someone to rent with, maybe not necessarily close to the city centre, somewhere remote,» comments Čiulada.
«It won’t be that there is nothing on the market, you will find solutions, but maybe not in the conditions that existed two or three years ago.»
Currently students have to compete with people from Ukraine and Belarus for economy class apartments, he adds.
Opposition members from Social Democratic Party have proposed the government should intervene and consider setting a cap on housing rent.
«The government has the right to set such a cap. We are not suggesting that they should regulate the housing market, that there should be strong supervision from the government, but we cannot ignore the problem now,» said MP Rasa Budbergytė.
Members of liberal political parties are against this idea.
«These populist proposals that we have to regulate everything – when a person gets up, when he goes to bed, who he goes to bed with, who he can have dinner with – seem strange,» says Liberal Movement member Andrius Bagdonas.
«I think that the state should not interfere in people’s lives to that extent. As I said before, it should take care of young families, young people who do not have assets,» he adds.
Full article can be found here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1737197/lithuanian-legislators-suggest-rent-caps-as-housing-prices-go-through-the-roof