In Lisbon, the effort rate for renting a 2-bedroom apartment, taking into account a couple and a smaller household, can reach 58%, almost double that in Berlin and Barcelona. As a reminder, the effort rate is the ratio between the sum of expenses related to the main dwelling and household income. The expenses include for the owners the loan repayments for the purchase of the accommodation, the property tax and the co-ownership charges. According to an analysis by the Publico newspaper published on Monday, it would be twice as difficult to find a rental property in the Portuguese capital than in Berlin or Barcelona, while these 2 cities have higher rental prices than in Lisbon . One reason is lower incomes. Lisbob, the expats assistant in Portugal, tells you everything about this survey.
Housing: Lisbon worse than Barcelona or Berlin with an effort rate of 58%
According to an analysis in the Público newspaper published on Monday, renting a house in Lisbon can become a more difficult task than in Barcelona or Berlin. Indeed, by analyzing the rents and the incomes of a household made up of a couple and a child residing in a T2 in these three cities, it appears that in each of them the rate of effort of 30% is largely exceeded. But Lisbon broke all records and even reached the rate of 58%.
The analysis in question was carried out by the research group “Morfologia e Dinâmicas do Território do Centro de Estudos de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade do Porto” (Morphology and dynamics of territories of the Center for Architecture Studies and town planning of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto). The study is based on the cross-tabulation of data between rents and incomes of a couple with a child living in a T2 of 95 square meters in the three cities of Lisbon, Barcelona and Berlin.
Berlin is the most expensive of the 3 cities but water and electricity are included in the rents
The average rent for this type of accommodation is 916 euros in Lisbon. For the same good it will cost on average 1,170 euros in the Catalan capital and 1,491 euros in the German capital. For Berlin, however, this figure already includes water and electricity costs.
Income is where the shoe pinches for the Portuguese capital. The average salary in each country is quite different. For the same configuration (couple with a child), the average monthly net income is 1,563 euros in Lisbon. This same household will have an income of 2,614 euros in Barcelona and 3,727 euros in Berlin.
In the end, the effort rate in these 3 cities exceeds the recommended value which is 30%. This means that beyond this rate households spend a great deal of their income on housing. The effort rate is 40% in Berlin, 45% in Barcelona and finally the Portuguese capital breaks all records with a rate of 58%. This means that on average a Lisbon home spends 58% of its income to be able to find accommodation, water and electricity costs not included.
