In the new ORF correspondent magazine, Christophe Kohl, Andreas Pfeifer and Vanessa Böttcher report from the USA, Germany and Sweden
Vienna (OTS) – Rent prices have exploded alongside the costs of energy and food. It’s not just in Austria that people struggle with this additional monthly burden. It is a global problem, primarily in urban areas. However, price drivers are not just inflation and increasing demand for living space. It is primarily the machinations of large corporations and investment companies that are responsible for the overpriced rents.
For the new ORF correspondent magazine “WeltWeit” the topic “Rental usury. Who pays on top and who cashes out?” Christophe Kohl in the USA, Andreas Pfeifer in Germany and Vanessa Böttcher in Sweden looking for clues. On Friday, January 19, 2024, at 9:20 p.m. on ORF 2, they will show how a few “big players” on the international real estate market are buying up entire city districts, pocketing billions in profits and driving people to the edge of their existence using unscrupulous methods .
Like Alan from San Diego, who is helplessly at the mercy of a rat infestation in his $2,000 one-room apartment, or Berlin pensioner Lutz Jung, who is afraid that he will no longer be able to afford his small rental apartment – after horrendous additional payments. In Stockholm, a young woman sits in an apartment that is 15 degrees cold because her landlord only wants to repair the heating if she pays more rent.