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Cologne's rental madness: Stefan fears for his beloved apartment!
Stefan reports on his challenge of coping with the rising rent prices in Bayenthal and shares his personal living situation.
Cologne's rental madness: Stefan fears for his beloved apartment!
Rental prices in Cologne have risen sharply in recent years, and many tenants like Stefan from Marienburg are feeling the effects first hand. He lived for over 13 years in a 56 square meter attic apartment, which he once paid for 980 German marks. In 2010 he moved to Bayenthal with his girlfriend at the time, where he has lived for 15 years in a completely renovated, 96 square meter three-room apartment with two bathrooms and a loggia. But now he is worried that he will no longer be able to keep this apartment.
Stefan, who separated from his wife two years ago for health reasons, feels under a lot of pressure. With a monthly income of just under 2,400 euros and a rent of currently 1,400 euros, he has taken in a roommate who uses a guest room and a second bathroom to cover the costs. “The prices have simply risen badly here in Cologne,” he explains and complains about the high construction costs and investors’ greed for profit as the main reasons for the unstoppable rent increases.
Rent index and market developments
The situation on the Cologne housing market is also reflected in the current rent index, which is drawn up every two years by the Rhenish Real Estate Exchange in collaboration with various organizations. According to the latest figures, the market in Cologne is buoyant, with continued population growth that could bring the city to over 1.2 million residents by 2040. This development leads to a high new rental rate and causes rents to continue to skyrocket.
Prices are particularly high in inner city locations and the popular urban areas on the left bank of the Rhine. In contrast, medium-sized and cheaper locations in the urban area have become increasingly rare, with the exception of the center and the western south. A look at the details of the Cologne rent index clearly shows that the purchase prices for apartments and houses are rising even faster than rents, which poses additional challenges for future tenants.
Stefan knows all of this too well. “I feel lucky to have this apartment,” he says, and hopes to keep it. The worries and needs of tenants like him are not isolated cases. For many, renting in Cologne feels like a tightrope walk as demand continues to push prices to new heights. For more information about the current rental prices in Cologne, it is worth taking a look at Immobilienscout24 or koeln.de.
The freedom of design and the feeling of security for tenants in Cologne are at stake. The city must find ways to counteract this trend. Because the concerns of tenants like Stefan are real and call for solutions that make building and living in the cathedral city more affordable again.