Just sent you €100. Slava Ukraine!
I've been living in Berlin for two years now, so I can weigh in a little.
The people in the UK are so much friendlier than Germany, and this isn't just the "directness" of language that people like to refer to with German. Everyday interactions are so much more pleasant in the UK than in Germany. It is delightful and something I miss terribly.
As a business owner, the tax benefits and bureaucracy are a world apart from Germany. Germany still operates mostly with paper, fax and cash, whereas, in the UK, everything is online. The gov.uk websites are fantastic.
Healthcare in Germany trumps the UK. I am privately insured, mind, and pay around €250/month for healthcare. That covers my dental and has a €1000 excess. So I'd say it costs more, but I have never had to wait more than one week to see any doctor, be it a GP, dentist, or specialist. Pretty amazing.
The cultural weight of the UK, for a country so small, is something that I never fully appreciated. It's probably the one reason that, since moving, I've discovered a very patriotic streak. It makes me incredibly proud of our country. Everybody knows the UK, has something to say about the UK, listens to UK music, watches UK film/television, and supports a British football/sports team. Small indie bands that I loved back home are known and equally loved here. It's truly astonishing.
Regarding multiculturalism, food, culture, and things to do, London is a truly unique city and arguably one of its kind, definitely in Europe.
It's nowhere near as bad as people make out on Reddit. I miss the UK and can't wait to come back!
Rent control by gov has never worked out well. Just look at Germany as a recent example.
I am curious about what you mean by this. They had rent controls in Berlin, which meant rent stayed relatively in line with the rest of the market. Once the rent caps were removed, the rental market went insane, with Berlin becoming one of the fastest-rising rents anywhere in the world.
It is now so absurd that it's worse than London, all thanks to the lack of rent caps.
This has been extensively documented, with plenty of other parameters making the whole thing more complicated than you might imagine.
First of all, Berlin was known for its low rent comparatively with other European capitals, especially in East Berlin.
Now what changed was that every year since the 90s, 30-40k new people came to live in Berlin, thanks to its great job prospects and dynamic scene. Mechanically, rents went up.
Instead of responding to this new influx of people by facilitating the building and investment in real estate, the Berlin government decided to freeze rents:
- 1st phase for 1.5m flats built before 2014 (starting feb 2020)
- 2nd phase mandating landlords to reduce any rent that goes above 20% of a limit fixed by the gov. (starting nov 2020)
Now the tricky part: this reduction was retroactive (reference rents were fixed before the date where this law passed, which means landlors had to reduce their rents back to 2019 levels, for a fixed 5 years period.
On the short term, rents were reduced (flats built before 2014 saw a reduction of 11%), but this reduction is only in comparison to "unregulated" flats, which had their rents actually go up.
Results:
- Number of flats available for renting went down significantly: more than half. Landlords preferred living in the flat, selling it or leaving it idle until the law changes.
- Since people looking for a flat couldn't find one, they had to go for what's available. Non-regulated market exploded as well as nearby town like Potsdam had their rent be significantly higher than other German cities.
- 214 candidates per available flat in jan 2021 when it was 128 per flat in jan 2020 before the freeze.
- Real estate experts froze their investments and new building of new flats.
- If you already rent a flat: it's good news, short term you won't have a raised rent. But if you're looking for a flat, you have less choice and a higher price. What's the point of a freeze if it makes it harder for you to rent a flat?
At the end of the day, the Central Committee for Real Estate (ZIA) published a report showing that during autumn 2020, prices were 5.7% lower for rents in Berlin compared to the year before, but with half as many offers. Not a good deal at all.
The Constitutional Court later ruled that the measure was unlawful to begin with.
A study found out that "rent decreases were accompanied by decreases in supply five times as large" (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19491247.2022.2059844?journalCode=reuj20)
Overall, a bad idea.
Thanks for the write-up. It's very interesting. Would you happen to have a copy of the linked paper? I don't fancy paying 43€ to read it.
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Xberg, Bergmannkiez. 87m2, 4 zimmer. €2109 all in.
This is what happens when citizens don’t have the same means as criminals/government to defend themselves. Like all these idiots that want to ban law abiding citizens from having constitutional rights to own a rifle, here in the U.S.
Yes this is exactly what happens, said the person in America who doesn't understand what is happening in Iran.
One of the reasons they'll stay here moaning is because a bunch of people took away their right to live elsewhere...
Hit the nail on the head there lol
"Instead of MOANING, why don't you just LEAVE?"
"Er, would if I could mate"
Just at the right time for me that by the time I was out of education and had decent career experience, the window had already closed on leaving the UK. If not for that I could definitely see myself being overseas somewhere in the EU right now.
(Not saying I hate the UK or anything, it just would have been nice to experience that freedom of movement and try life somewhere else for a few years, without worrying about visas etc)
The only realistic thing I can hope for now is if our governments can bring in some sort of freedom of movement deal with Australia, NZ, and/or Canada, but not sure if it's just a dream..
I moved from the UK to Germany last year. It is possible.
Literally nobody said it wasn't possible. Just not possible for most people ;)
Presumably you've got a highly in-demand career, contacts in the German job market, or married a German?
Well, yes, and I guess I do take that for granted. I am on a freelance visa and work in tech. You could always investigate the working holiday visas for countries like Canda, Australia, NZ?
Resentment won’t get you anywhere. Would you not give your kid the best education available if you had the chance? There’s no nobility is willingly gimping yourself
shut up man
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