Relocation Is Driving Rental Demand. Can Non-Institutional Investors Profit?
As relocation reshapes housing demand across Europe, rental markets are feeling the pressure first, particularly in cities that lack professional rental supply. InRento, a platform that connects everyday investors to rental and renovation projects, is tracking these shifts in countries where the gap between arriving demand and available housing is widest.
Across Europe, rising relocation rates are reshaping the housing market. In Ireland, just 1,777 homes were available to rent nationwide this February, 22% fewer than the year before. Meanwhile, Lithuania's foreign worker population has grown from under 7,000 in 2020 to 170,600 today, a 20-fold increase, while new home sales in Vilnius are already up 83.6% in a year.
These shifts are putting direct pressure on rental and renovation markets across the Baltics, Poland, Romania, and Finland, Ireland, and other European countries. Markets where supply once matched demand are now strained to accommodate new workforce. Platforms like InRento, which connect investor capital to rental and renovation projects, are watching which markets are equipped to absorb that pressure, and which are not.
How relocation hits housing
A strong reputation for relocation draws people to a city, and they look for rentals as their first move. A good example of this is Lithuania, which ranks high for relocation: #6 globally and #3 in Europe, according to the Rumavi Global Relocation Index. “A good relocation ranking is basically an invitation, and the people who accept it show up in the rental market first,” says Bernardas Preikšaitis, CEO at InRento. “Nobody buys an apartment in month one. They rent for a year or two, get to know the city, and only then decide whether to stay.”
“But when so much new demand hits low supply, rents react fast. Vilnius rents grew around 3% in 2025 and the 2026 outlook is 3-6%, with international workers among the main drivers. And the next wave is already visible,” says Preikšaitis. “Germany is stationing about 5,000 soldiers plus their families near Vilnius by 2027, and that’s already adding rental demand.”
The gap between arriving demand and new housing supply is where rents take the biggest hit. Relocation brings thousands of new renters into a market within months, while new homes take two or three years to materialise. Cities with little rental supply have no buffer when that wave arrives.
Why institutional rental is part of the solution
Across the Baltics, Poland, Romania, Finland, Italy, and Ireland, institutional landlords have limited presence. For example, in Poland, which has the region’s most developed rental sector, just 30,000 apartments belong to institutional owners. That is only 0.1% of all housing, while most rentals still belong to private individuals with one or two extra flats. Lithuania and Romania have even fewer professional rentals on the market.
“The real enemy of tenants isn’t the institution, it’s scarcity,” says Preikšaitis. “Professional owners build and renovate at scale, keep rentals available for decades, offer longer contracts, pay taxes and meet energy rules. When institutional investors pulled back in Ireland, rental properties dried up even further. Supply dropped, but rents didn’t.”
Recent European policy reflects this view. The EU’s first Affordable Housing Plan recognizes housing shortages as a barrier to job mobility and places private investment at the heart of its proposal. But it’s not just large investment funds who benefit from the growth in rental housing. Everyday investors can also take part by investing in renovation and rental projects through crowdfunding platforms like InRento. This means the increase in demand does not just help institutions. It lets more people gain a share of the returns while supporting new rental supply.
Different markets, different degrees of readiness
But not every market is in the same position to respond to the EU's call for more private investment. Finland, for example, where a third of all homes are rentals and institutional landlords are the norm, absorbs mobility without much disruption. Poland, by contrast, is faster and more volatile. Romania and Lithuania, where homeownership exceeds 89%, have rental markets that are small and slow to respond when large numbers of newcomers arrive at once.
Overall, the pattern that holds across all these markets is that supply determines outcomes, not regulation. Platforms like InRento, which channel capital from everyday investors into rental and renovation projects, are one part of how that supply gets built in markets where professional landlords are still rare and relocation pressure is rising.
