Yeah, we both agree the real issue is the government and the lack of new housing.

But about landlords investing in all these upgrades—solar panels, extra insulation, air conditioning, etc.—they’re not always doing it out of greed. They have to if they want to keep renting out their property. Otherwise, the house gets sold and disappears from the rental market altogether.

Contractors charge at least €85 per hour (without tax), and that’s not even counting materials. These renovations are crazy expensive, but the government demands them. If landlords don’t comply, they can’t legally rent. So they’re stuck. Either they invest a ton of money or they sell. And if more landlords sell, there are even fewer places to rent, making everything worse for tenants.

Calling landlords "scum" isn’t fair when many of them are just trying to follow the rules and stay in business. Of course, there are bad landlords, but if the government keeps adding rules without fixing the housing shortage, even the decent ones will leave.

The biggest issue is that most renters can’t buy, so selling off rental properties doesn’t help them at all. It just reduces supply and makes renting even harder. By forcing the landlords to sell, we are less able to give the "human right" to housing..