The rental market in Norway has hit its seasonal peak, as students battle to find places to stay in university towns across the country.
Bedsits or studio apartments are in most high demand, with the average advert on the Qasa rental marketplace staying up only 13 days before it is removed, indicating that the property has been rented out.
Rooms in flat shares are the next in demand with adverts up for an average of 14.4 days, while whole apartments are up for an average of 14.9 days.
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In some student cities, adverts are taken down even more rapidly, with adverts for studio apartments disappearing after ten days, and contracts signed on average only two days after the advertisement is posted, compared to ten days in Trondheim.
Bergen is also seeing the highest price growth, with the cost of renting a studio apartment up 25 percent.
Nationwide, the total supply of rental properties has fallen by around 10 percent compared with the same period last year, but there are significant local differences.
"In Oslo and Trondheim, we’re seeing a marked shortage of supply. In particular, the typical student accommodation – such as single rooms and rooms in shared flats – has fallen sharply," writes Anette Syversen, letting expert at Vend and country manager for Qasa in Norway, in an email to Norwegian outlet NTB.
She emphasises that as many as one in five rental properties has permanently disappeared from the Oslo market compared with 2020.
Kristiansand also has fewer flats and shared accommodation on the market.
In contrast to Bergen, which has seen a sharp increase in vacant properties, Stavanger and Tromsø have only experienced moderate growth in supply.
In addition to the market shortages, however, Norway's Tenants’ Association also reports reduced quality for tenants with the fewer rooms or properties available in increasingly poor conditions.
“The rental market is very tough right now,” general manager Anne-Rita Andal tells NTB.
Summer, she adds, is the worst time because so many people are moving at the same time ahead of the new academic year.
"What we’re seeing most of all are cases of defects. There are many substandard rental properties on the market. Many of our members also say that they choose not to complain about defects because they’re afraid it will affect their relationship with the landlord," Andal adds.
She also explains that the association has recorded more tenancy terminations and evictions than before.
"We believe one of the reasons for the increase in terminations is that landlords are doing this so they can enter into new tenancies at market-adjusted rates and higher rents," says Andal.
Norwegian vocabulary: en hybel – a bedsit
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