Research methodology

Investigating corporate landlords across Europe

Corporate landlords are companies that buy, sell, own and rent out homes for profit. They are thought to be the biggest private landlords in many European cities, and some of them have been linked to big increases in rental prices and to abusive tactics and mistreatment of tenants.

Because of the housing crises across Europe, we believe it's important for the public to know what are corporate landlords, who are they and how they behave, how much housing they own and how much money they make, and generally what role they play in and what impact they have on housing markets.

However, there aren’t many publicly available data to get a comprehensive and detailed view of this topic; and without knowing about the biggest private landlords in our cities, how can we have an informed public conversation about housing?

That’s why in September 2020, with the aim of getting and publishing relevant data and information about this topic, we launched the project “Cities for Rent: Investigating Corporate Landlords Across Europe”.

To get the data, we’ve been looking at the city level, because corporate landlords mostly operate in cities and because some data indexes about one city may be quite different from the averages for the whole country (like rental prices and the share of tenants).

Looking for data at the city level is proving to be quite difficult: data accessibility is poor, and available datasets have been compiled by using different definitions and methodologies, which poses particular challenges when trying to get data that are comparable across cities.

In this methodology note, we describe the data we’ve been working to get and the main sources we’ve been using, as well as the data and information we would like to get to follow up on the first phase of the investigation.

We aim to be as transparent as possible and we describe separately and in more detail the limitations of our research and our approach to data visualisation. And we are building a data catalogue of our investigation, where describe and link to the different data sets we have been gathering and generating as part of the investigation.

If you would like to carry out similar work, or to know more about or contribute to this investigation, get in touch with us.

The “Cities for Rent” investigation and this website are a work in progress: if you think there are some data missing or if you have any other comment about the methodology or the investigation, please contact us.

These are the data we’ve been working to get, why we think they are relevant and how we are going about getting them.

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Data about the homes owned by corporate landlords

Number of homes that corporate landlords buy, sell, own and rent out for profit
  • These data are key to understand and start visualising who the biggest and main corporate landlords are by city and overall. However, such data are not public in the cases of almost all these companies.
  • We’ve been working to compile these data systematically ourselves, first from the websites and reports of corporate landlords, and then from possible secondary sources: real estate reports, academic research, research by other experts...
Addresses and date of acquisition of homes owned by corporate landlords
  • These data allow us to visualise the spread of homes owned by corporate landlords in given cities and its evolution over time. Some companies do make public some of these data regarding their portfolio of properties, which often consist of whole buildings.
  • We’ve been working to compile these data systematically ourselves, first from the websites and reports of corporate landlords, then from possible secondary sources, and when available also by checking the property registry.
Financial results of corporate landlords connected to their housing businesses
  • These data give us insights into what the corporate landlords’ investment into and income and profit from housing are, and the role these companies play across housing markets at a time of crises of housing affordability in many of our cities.
  • Listed companies are obliged to publish their financial results and, even if it can be time-consuming and complicated work, normally it’s possible to find those reports and get some if not all the de detailed data about the income, expenditure and benefits connected to housing.
  • We would like to get this information as a follow-up to the first phase of our investigation.

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Data about rental markets

Evolution of rental prices in a given city (ideally average by square metre)
  • These data can be correlated with the data about the homes owned by corporate landlords and the data about their financial results. In fact, all the data referred to rental markets can be cross-checked and correlated with data about the homes owned by corporate landlords, so that we may visualise connections and patterns about the impact of these companies on rental housing markets across Europe.
  • Data about rental prices at the city level are often available in one way or another, but in many cases they are not official data but compiled and published by private firms (including real estate companies, which may have a vested interest in what and how to publish the data), and sometimes the data are not published consistently over time. Besides that, data definitions and methodologies often vary across cities or sources, which makes it tricky or simply not possible to compare them.
  • We’ve been working to get these data systematically ourselves, first from official sources and, otherwise, from other sources that we deem reliable. When possible, we try to get the average price by square metre, as we believe that’s the most practical way to compare this index across cities (in some cases, the median could also be useful).
Evolution of the share of household income devoted to rent in a given city (or generally to housing)
  • This index tells us about how housing affordability has been changing over time in a particular city. The common recommendation is for households to devote not more than 30% of their income to housing; and households are usually considered overburdened if it’s more than 40%.
  • While these data are often available as a national average, they are much less accessible at the city level (which may differ significantly from the national value).
  • If comparing between cities, one needs to pay attention to the exact definition of the data, as they may be about rent or about mortgage, and they may or may not include utilities and/or other expenses related to housing.
  • We’ve been working to compile these data systematically ourselves by city by looking for official data about this index. When that’s not available, we try to construct this index ourselves by looking for official data about average household income and average rent and housing costs. If official data are not available, we may consider other sources if we deem them reliable.
Evolution of the share of people overburdened by rent or housing costs in a given city
  • This index complements the one above and shows how the percentage of households considered overburdened by housing costs has evolved over time.
  • As with the index above, these data are usually available at the national level but harder to find at the city level, and one needs to pay attention to the exact definition and methodology of any dataset before comparing the data across cities.
  • We’ve been working to compile these data systematically ourselves by city, first by looking for official data about this index, and otherwise considering other sources if we deem them reliable.
Evolution of the share of tenants and of dwellers who are homeowners in a given city
  • This index is useful to see trends across cities in the numbers and percentages of people renting their home versus people owning the home they live in, also when compared to the national averages.
  • National values are compiled by Eurostat, but data at the city level may be hard to come by. In some cases, there are data from the censuses (which normally are conducted once every 10 years) or other official sources. In some cases, private organisations also compile and publish these data. Therefore, definitions and methodology may vary between cities.
  • We’ve been working to compile these data systematically at the national and city levels from official sources (Eurostat and country and city authorities). When official data are not available, we consider other sources if we deem them reliable.

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Data about property markets

Evolution of property prices in a given city (ideally average by square metre)
  • Because corporate landlords are thought to be among the biggest private home owners in many European cities, they also impact property markets. At “Cities for Rent” we’ve been so far focusing on tenants, but data about property prices and other indexes referred to property markets can be cross-checked and correlated to data about the homes owned by corporate landlords, and are also relevant to get a comprehensive and detailed view of this topic.
  • Data about property prices at the city level are often available in one way or another, but in many cases they are not official data but compiled and published by private organisations (including real estate companies, which may have a vested interest in what and how to publish the data), and sometimes the data are not published consistently over time. Besides that, data definitions and methodologies often vary across cities or sources, which makes it tricky or simply not possible to compare them.
  • We’ve been working to get these data systematically ourselves, first from official sources and, otherwise, from other sources that we deem reliable. When possible, we try to get the average price by square metre, as we believe that’s the best way to compare this index across cities (in some cases, the median could also be useful).
Evolution of the share of home ownership by type of entity in a given city (individuals, companies, other private for-profit and non-profit organisations, the city or the state)
  • This index lets us know about what types of different actors are the main landlords in a city and how the situation has been evolving over time. These data can be correlated with those about the rental and housing markets, and with those about the homes owned by corporate landlords, to visualise trends and patters about the role played by and the impact of those companies on housing markets.
  • Some data about the share of home ownership are available from official sources (sometimes as part of the censuses, which are normally conducted once every 10 years), but as far as we know there are no public registries that systematically compile these data at the city level. Investment and real estate consultancy firms sometimes publish some of these data, but normally not as raw data (and such firms may have a vested interest in portraying the data in a particular way).
  • One needs to pay attention to the data category definitions and the methodology, as they may vary depending on the data source and the city or country covered.
  • We’ve been working on compiling these data systematically ourselves, first from official sources when available, and otherwise from other sources if we deem them reliable.
Evolution of the share of home ownership by type of company in a given city (investment fund, REIT, bank, housing corporation...)
  • This index is similar to the one above, but it complements it by zooming into what types of companies own hay many homes. These data can help us visualise more detailed trends and patterns about how corporate landlords behave, and it can help us identify particularly relevant companies across cities and overall.
  • As with the index above, some of these data may be available from official sources, but most often they are only compiled and published by investment and real estate consultancy firms.
  • We’ve been working on compiling these data systematically ourselves, first from official sources when available, and otherwise from other sources if we deem them reliable.

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Data that provide background and context

Evolution of capital flows into housing markets across cities and countries (ideally by individual investors and companies)
  • These data provide the general frame to understand who are the main actors and how much money they have been investing in housing markets across cities and countries over time. If the data are detailed enough, they can also show which type of companies are the most active and involved –investment funds, banks, REITs, housing corporations…– and from which to which countries the money flows. These data can then be cross-referenced and correlated with the data about the rental and property markets, and with the data about the homes owned by particular corporate landlords.
  • As far as we know, there are no public databases or registries publishing these data consistently. Instead, investment and real estate consultancy firms compile and give their clients access to these data, and they also publish some of them, even though normally not as raw data and not necessarily in a consistent way over time. Besides, data definitions and methodologies often vary between these data providers.
  • Some of those firms may consider providing data to journalists and academic researchers, often with some caveats, and during our investigation we reached an agreement with Real Capital Analytics to get some of their data about capital flows and to visualise them in our reporting.
Evolution of the population of a given city
  • This index is useful to understand the level of urbanisation and the evolution of the demand for housing across cities, which can be cross-referenced and correlated with the data about the rental and property markets and the data about the homes owned by corporate landlords. The more detailed the data in terms of type of population (origin, age, income...), the more information this index may provide.
  • These data are normally available from official sources, even if one needs to pay attention to the definition and the boundaries of the city that the data refer to when cross-referencing this index with other data.
  • We’ve been working to get these data systematically by city from official sources.
Evolution of the number of homes in a given city
  • This index complements the one above and is useful to understand the evolution of the supply of housing across cities. Likewise, the more detailed the data, the more information this index may provide.
  • These data are usually available in some way from official sources, and often are included in the censuses (which are normally conducted only once every 10 years). However, it may be challenging to get accurate data that have been published consistently every year or over short periods of time. One needs to pay attention to the data definitions and methodology, which may vary between different cities and countries.
  • We’ve been been working to get these data from official sources in a way that’s comparable across cities.

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Other useful information

We believe this further information, which normally is not available as machine-readable data, complements the datasets mentioned above and can help us to produce a comprehensive and detailed view of the topic of corporate landlords:

Corporate structure and ownership of corporate landlords
  • This information is about who are the owners and the main shareholders of corporate landlords, and how they are structured. This may help us understand who takes the decisions about how corporate landlords behave, and show which particular financial actors and companies are shareholders of several corporate landlords across cities.
  • Much of this information is normally available, as listed companies are obliged to publish it. But sometimes it can’t be known who are the ultimate owners of some companies, and generally speaking it can be time-consuming and difficult to get all the relevant data in a systematic way.
  • We would like to get this information as a follow-up to the first phase of our investigation.
EU regulations affecting corporate landlords, and laws and other regulations of the rental and property market across jurisdictions
  • Even though housing is normally regulated at the local or national levels, there are EU norms that affect the way investment firms and corporate landlords can operate across Europe.
  • Finding out all the relevant regulations and analysing how they affect the way corporate landlords (and other actors) behave across housing markets contribute to give a comprehensive view of this topic, even if this can be quite laborious work.
  • We’ve been working to get information about the relevant regulations across the cities present in our investigation, and we would like to keep working on this issue as a follow-up to the first phase of the investigation.
Lobbying conducted by corporate landlords, or on their behalf, at the local, national and EU levels
  • While regulated and legal, lobbying by many corporate actors is often non-transparent, and there may also be instances of illegal lobbying by some actors.
  • Because of the effect lobbying may have on the norms and the regulatory framework affecting corporate landlords and housing markets across Europe, this information also contributes to give a comprehensive view of this topic.
  • We would like to get this information as a follow-up to the first phase of our investigation.
Tax and other incentives given to corporate landlords across jurisdictions
  • Many jurisdictions offer special tax regimes to corporate landlords and other housing investors. For instance, several EU countries have a 0% or very reduced income tax rate for REITs, and there are other such tax and financial incentives also at the city level.
  • Finding out all the relevant norms about these kinds of incentives and analysing how they affect the way corporate landlords (and other actors) behave across housing markets also contribute to give a comprehensive view of this topic, even if this can be quite laborious work.
  • We’ve been working to get information about the relevant regulations across the cities present in our investigation, and we would like to keep working on this issue as a follow-up to the first phase of the investigation.

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