How does CASAFARI support sustainable housing across Europe
CASAFARI supports sustainable housing across Europe by removing information asymmetry, eliminating duplicated and outdated property listings, and providing equal access to transparent market data. This empowers estate agents to advise landlords and tenants on fair asking and rental prices, professionalising a fragmented market and strengthening consumer protection in major European cities.
What housing challenges do tenants face in major European cities?
Marina has recently moved to Lisbon to work. She’s been searching tirelessly for an apartment to live in, but it has been no easy task. Not only the lines to visit apartments are taking precious hours from her days, but the paperwork she needs to present to each owner is huge and, once she has it all ready, she usually finds out that the competition is already summing over 200 people. Yes, for one single apartment.
And this is not the only problem Marina is facing. With so few properties available and so many people looking for them, owners are charging whatever they feel like, making rent prices skyrocket. She started questioning if her salary will be enough for living a balanced life.
Of course Marina could look for housing a little outside the city centre, where having a roof over your head is more affordable, but that means adding quite some time to her daily commute.
To top it off, when finally someone chose her as their lucky tenant, Marina found out that the apartment was actually being sublet. The current tenant is going on a sabbatical and wants to keep the apartment, so they decided to sublet without the owner knowing. This means Marina will have to decide whether she’s willing to live in a nice house, relying only on this unknown person’s word. She’s not feeling safe at all without a proper lease agreement.
Does Marina’s situation ring a bell? She’s facing hardships such as:
- Lack of stock for long-term rental
- Increase of rental prices unconforming with the average salary of locals
- Lack of reliability on a rent deal
- Non-compliance with leasing regulations
Why is sustainable housing in city centres essential for local communities?
Marina’s pain points are common in the big cities of Europe, where many properties were turned into short-term rentals for tourists while the influx of people coming to work and live is as steady as ever.
But we all know all the advantages of someone like Marina being able to live close to the city centres. They profit from shorter commutes, better educational centers and a broader job offer. Also, they’re able to enjoy all cultural activities the place has to offer and actually get to live somewhere they would like, instead of choosing the home they can pay for.
In other words, Marina and her counterparts would gain quality of life if they faced a more friendly environment when it comes to choosing where to live.
In order for that to happen, structural changes were needed in Europe’s real estate market. And that is what we are here for: empowering local communities and organising the market.
How does CASAFARI’s market data strengthen consumer protection?
By now, you probably already know that our tools remove information asymmetry on the real estate market, both for rent and for sale, right?
We do it as a single source of truth for the property market, ensuring accuracy of data, so no real estate professional has to work with outdated, confusing or duplicated data. We also do it by bringing equality of access to all information available on a market. With tools like Property Sourcing, a single real estate agent doesn’t need to look in thousands of different sources to identify trends, to control their portfolio and to find the ideal properties for their clients.
And last but not least, we do it by making sure that market information is transparent.
How? With our property valuation and market study tools, we allow real estate professionals to make data-driven decisions, such as how much should be charged for a property, both for sale or rent. These are the professionals advising both tenants and owners, therefore they can offer a real and clean view of the market to both parts.
And, once everybody involved in the process of renting a house is fully aware of the reality of the market, more and more deals are closed taking that into account. In the end, CASAFARI’s data helps normalise asking prices among properties in each market, highlighting the importance of setting the right asking price for a property to support affordable rent in big European cities.
How does empowering estate agents improve owner-tenant relationships?
By empowering real estate agents, we also professionalise a fragmented market where usually private owners are the property managers without professional knowledge, tools and any compliance. These agents change the owner-tenant relationships, often marked by abusive practices, to a more professional and predictable one.
When both tenants and owners know which are their rights and responsibilities in a rent deal and everything is conducted according to renting regulations, they will have to do their part to honour the contract. This way, consumer protection is brought to the table, forcing private owners to respect standards established by law.
Summing up, changing the real estate market for the better is our motto because it brings advantages to everyone touched by it. Through the CASAFARI platform, real estate professionals can work more efficiently, owners can accelerate their deals and tenants have a safer way to find a home in Europe.
Featured photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash
Frequently asked questions
How does CASAFARI remove information asymmetry in the European property market?
CASAFARI cleans, aggregates and deduplicates property data from thousands of sources so estate agents never have to work with outdated or confusing listings, giving everyone equal access to transparent market information.
How does transparent property data help normalise rental asking prices?
When estate agents have accurate market data to make data-driven valuations, they can advise both landlords and tenants on realistic asking rents, helping normalise prices across the local market.
What are the main obstacles to finding long-term rental housing in European cities?
Tenants often face a lack of long-term rental stock due to short-term tourist lets, asking rents that do not match local salaries, and unregulated practices such as unauthorised subletting.
Why is professionalising the rental market important for consumer protection?
Equipping estate agents with professional tools replaces informal management by private landlords with compliant, predictable processes where both parties understand and honour their legal rights and obligations.
Which CASAFARI tools help estate agents set fair asking prices for sale and rent?
Estate agents use CASAFARI’s Property Sourcing, Valuation & Market Study (Comparables) and Area Insights to analyse competing stock, historical asking prices and market trends.