All consumers have to deal with more expensive times, but some are hit harder than others. Now those who rent a home are particularly hard hit. In just one year, rental prices have increased by up to 10 per cent. In a recent survey commissioned by the Consumer Council, nearly half responded that they had experienced a rent increase in the past year. And as many as one in three fear that they will have to move because of the general price trend. Last year, the Consumer Council asked for a new tenancy law to protect the country’s tenants from unstable, unfree and expensive living conditions. Since then, we have had a new government and promises in the government platform. More and more parties agree with us. Nevertheless, the government has not initiated a long-requested legislative committee to protect the consumers who are most vulnerable in times of recession. Figures from Finn.no on rental prices in May 2021 compared to May 2022 show an increase of 9–10 per cent for apartments in the four largest cities and an increase of 5 per cent in the rest of the country. More and more consumers have to rent a home throughout their lives, especially in popular areas. It is natural that there is a lot of talk about students and rental housing right now, but only 20 percent of today’s tenants are students. According to the Consumer Council’s report “Renting a home” (2021), renting a home is an unstable way of living. One in three tenants has had to move from their home due to conditions on the landlord’s side. The most common types of contracts we have in Norway are contracts that either give the landlord good opportunities to terminate the tenant as needed, or contracts that must be renewed every three years. In practice, tenants with such contracts will have to apply to keep their own home every three years. Tenants with children are particularly hard hit, who risk having to change nursery school or school in the event of an involuntary move. Neither consumer protection nor penalty security is satisfactory. All of the country’s consumers have experienced and will in the future experience that transport, electricity and food are becoming more expensive. Much is written about rising interest rates and their impact on household finances. There is no doubt that rising interest rates will hit many consumers hard. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to point out that rising interest rates primarily affect the winners in the housing market – those who, after all, own the home they live in. Because with owning a home comes a number of subsidies and other benefits that tenants can look forward to: interest deductions , tax-free rental, tax-free capital gains, compulsory savings and the possibility of refinancing. The tenants receive no such benefits, even though they pay tax on income and services on an equal basis with consumers as owners. Inequality between consumer groups increases in this way. The proportion of renters has increased since the financial crisis. In Oslo, the proportion is increasing faster than in the rest of the country – more than one in four rents a home in the capital, figures from Statistics Norway show. When house prices rise more than wage growth, the door to the housing market is closed to more and more consumers. And despite more expensive times, there is little to suggest that house prices will fall sharply in central areas. No one benefits from great inequality between consumer groups. Our home is perhaps the most important consumer good we have. Before the election in 2021, the Labor Party, SV, Venstre and Rødt agreed with us that a new tenancy law was urgent. In the Hurdalsplattformen it is stated that the government must “consider the House Tenancy Act as a consumer law and ensure more stable tenancies for tenants”. Since then, we have received vague promises from the government and the ministry that the Rent Act will be affected in a new report to the Storting on housing, most recently from Minister Gjelsvik on news Dagsrevyen on Monday 08.08.22. We must emphasize that a minor adjustment to the current law is not enough, since the law is generally not consumer-friendly. A little tinkering with individual provisions does not solve the structural inequality between landlord and tenant. We fear that the government will not do this as thoroughly as they should. As the entire Act has weaknesses throughout, only a total revision will be able to provide both more stability for the tenant and make letting easier and more predictable for the landlord. A broadly composed legislative committee – as this work requires – should be set up now, there is no logic in this waiting for a future notification to the Storting.
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The new tenancy law is urgent – Statement
