I get an increasingly uncomfortable feeling when I read the news about house prices. We already knew that owner-occupied houses in this city are becoming more and more attractive and therefore more expensive. But reports about rents are not soft either. In Rotterdam, after Amsterdam, they are rising the hardest. It often happens that new tenants pay more than 8% more than the previous tenant. The cost of living is rising faster than inflation, but even more so, faster than what people earn.
Now we at SKAR have had the SKAR standard for three years. Back then we said: for standard workshops you don't have to pay more than € 50 per square meter per year (less than € 5 per month!). We don't raise that price, but we can't escape the fact that it follows inflation. It does. We also said at the time, we will keep that up for at least four years, and we can now say that we want to do the same for the next four years. At least that way you'll keep the rent affordable for artists and creatives. And we're doing that for the whole of Rotterdam: some properties are more expensive for SKAR, others cheaper, but by taking the average we've come out well so far. Call it a form of solidarity in rent. It then no longer matters where you happen to end up, that standard remains.
But in addition to the rent, there are other costs, and in particular those of energy are rising faster than inflation. And you can see that it does matter where you sit, especially in the old buildings of SKAR. If you're on one floor, you don't have to worry about cold feet, the downstairs neighbor is heating up. And if you sit on a corner, you will always have to pay more than the one in the middle. The point here is, that you hardly have any choice where you will sit, especially because studios are still scarce.
Would it be time for a SKAR standard in gas and light? So that that also depends on how big your workplace is, instead of how much you can enjoy the neighbours? Then we would not only get solidarity in the rent, but in all the costs you make for your studio. Or would everyone consume a lot more, because you wouldn't immediately notice?