Lessons from Germany: Tenant power in the rental market

The second of our series of reports comparing the English and German housing markets explores the lessons that policymakers in England can learn from Germany – where renting, the dominant tenure, appears to offer both stability and security to its 40-million-plus tenants. The private rented sector (PRS) in England is growing rapidly, in part in response to the increasing unaffordability of home ownership and the declining supply of social housing. There is mounting concern that across a range of indicators it is a poor substitute for both of these main alternatives. Tenants enjoy limited rights, their tenancies are short, and rents – while in the short-term more affordable than buying – are rising faster than incomes, preventing tenants from saving for mortgage deposits or even meeting the everyday costs of living. The PRS does not need to be a poor relation to home ownership or social renting, however, and we can turn our attention to other countries in which the challenges presented by the PRS are managed with more success. This paper, the second of our series comparing the English and German housing markets, explores the lessons policymakers can learn from Germany – a country in which renting is the dominant tenure and which appears able to offer both stability and security to its 40-million-plus tenants. England can learn from Germany in areas of tenancy security, controls on cost, and tenant representation. We recommend greater balance between the rights of a tenant and the rights of a landlord in England through longer tenancies, help with the costs associated with renting (such as deposits and letting fees), and stronger, more formalised representation

German model homes? A comparison of the UK and German housing markets

Can Britain learn from Germany to tackling the housing crisis? A new paper from IPPR finds Germany has higher rates of housebuilding, a much less volatile housing market, and a larger private rented sector than the UK. IPPR looks at why this has happened. Germany has higher rates of housebuilding, a much less volatile housing market, and a larger private rented sector than the UK. This paper, the first of three, explores the reasons for these differences, looking at both supply- and demand-side dimensions. On the supply side: Germany has a more diverse mix of housebuilders, both small and large, who build a wide variety of homes; a broader mix of investors, including build-to-rent; and a planning system that facilitates the release of land and the translation of permissions into completions. On the demand side: Germany has a more conservative mortgage market with greater restrictions on loan-to-value ratios; a tax system that favours long-term property ownership while discouraging speculation; and a combination of longer tenancies and more rent control, which together make private renting an attractive alternative to home ownership. Despite the many strong features of Germany’s housing market and wider policy framework, there remain areas in which policymakers in the UK can learn from Germany’s missteps. While Germany has managed to deliver more affordable homes in the last three decades, its model for delivering them, through the equivalent 20–30-year covenants, has led to a sharp drop in the availability of affordable rented homes. In addition, the private rented sector in Germany can be difficult to access, with lengthy property-search and application procedures, making entry difficult for prospective tenants and impacting on labour market flexibility. While the UK rental market may be too flexible, to the disadvantage of tenants, a full shift towards a German model could be problematic

Empowering local government or just passing the austerity buck? The changing balance of central and local government in welfare provision in England 2008-2015

This paper asks two questions: first, how did the balance of decision-making between central and local government in welfare policy in England change between 2010 and 2015? Second, to what extent has that led to divergence in the extent and manner of such provision? It finds significant areas of policy where local flexibility has been increased (such as council tax benefit, crisis loans, and funding for specialist housing), either through a change in the tier of government responsible, or ‘unringfencing’ of grants allowing local authorities greater discretion in whether to deliver particular services, although in other important areas decisions on welfare remain firmly centralized. It also concludes that in areas where responsibility has been localized, divergence has been immediate and substantial. Localization may well reduce entitlements where local authorities enjoy a financial reward for so doing and political costs are low

Negotiating as One Europe or several?:The variable geometry of the EU’s approach to Brexit

There are long-standing debates amongst scholars of European Union politics over the relative importance of member states and supranational institutions in determining what happens in the EU. This paper treats the case of ‘Brexit’ as a case study, considering the positions of the EU institutions, France, Germany and the V4, focusing particularly on dissociation issues, questions of migration, the customs union and trade, and the UK’s relationship to the single market during the first year of exit negotiations. It finds that while there are distinct national priorities, EU institutions have been able to synthesise these rather effectively into a common position which meets member states’ priorities as well as their own, confirming the claims of those who emphasise the ability of EU institutions to drive European integration and act on behalf of member states

Think Small, Build Big:Lessons from SME Housebuilding in Germany

There has been a catastrophic decline in the size of England’s SME housebuilding sector. This is not the case in Germany, where the SME sector dominates the housebuilding market. We diagnose a ‘toxic triangle’ of problems facing English SME builders, with mutually reinforcing problems stemming from the planning system, the land market, and insufficient access to finance. Drawing on experience from Germany, we recommend to government a seven-point plan to give England the greatest prospect of revitalising its SME building sector, thus making a substantially greater contribution to housing output

Regulation of Embryonic Cell Adhesion by the Prion Protein

Prion proteins (PrPs) are key players in fatal neurodegenerative disorders, yet their physiological functions remain unclear, as PrP knockout mice develop rather normally. We report a strong PrP loss-of-function phenotype in zebrafish embryos, characterized by the loss of embryonic cell adhesion and arrested gastrulation. Zebrafish and mouse PrP mRNAs can partially rescue this knockdown phenotype, indicating conserved PrP functions. Using zebrafish, mouse, and Drosophila cells, we show that PrP: (1) mediates Ca+2-independent homophilic cell adhesion and signaling; and (2) modulates Ca+2-dependent cell adhesion by regulating the delivery of E-cadherin to the plasma membrane. In vivo time-lapse analyses reveal that the arrested gastrulation in PrP knockdown embryos is due to deficient morphogenetic cell movements, which rely on E-cadherin–based adhesion. Cell-transplantation experiments indicate that the regulation of embryonic cell adhesion by PrP is cell-autonomous. Moreover, we find that the local accumulation of PrP at cell contact sites is concomitant with the activation of Src-related kinases, the recruitment of reggie/flotillin microdomains, and the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, consistent with a role of PrP in the modulation of cell adhesion via signaling. Altogether, our data uncover evolutionarily conserved roles of PrP in cell communication, which ultimately impinge on the stability of adherens cell junctions during embryonic development

Female responses to experimental removal of sexual selection components in Drosophila melanogaster

Despite the common assumption that multiple mating should in general be favored in males, but not in females, to date there is no consensus on the general impact of multiple mating on female fitness. Notably, very little is known about the genetic and physiological features underlying the female response to sexual selection pressures. By combining an experimental evolution approach with genomic techniques, we investigated the effects of single and multiple matings on female fecundity and gene expression. We experimentally manipulated the opportunity for mating in replicate populations of Drosophila melanogaster by removing components of sexual selection, with the aim of testing differences in short term post-mating effects of females evolved under different mating strategies

Registry of Aortic Diseases to Model Adverse Events and Progression (ROADMAP) in Uncomplicated Type B Aortic Dissection: Study Design and Rationale

PURPOSE To describe the design and methodological approach of a multicenter, retrospective study to externally validate a clinical and imaging-based model for predicting the risk of late adverse events in patients with initially uncomplicated type B aortic dissection (uTBAD). MATERIALS AND METHODS The Registry of Aortic Diseases to Model Adverse Events and Progression (ROADMAP) is a collaboration between 10 academic aortic centers in North America and Europe. Two centers have previously developed and internally validated a recently developed risk prediction model. Clinical and imaging data from eight ROADMAP centers will be used for external validation. Patients with uTBAD who survived the initial hospitalization between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2013, with follow-up until 2020, will be retrospectively identified. Clinical and imaging data from the index hospitalization and all follow-up encounters will be collected at each center and transferred to the coordinating center for analysis. Baseline and follow-up CT scans will be evaluated by cardiovascular imaging experts using a standardized technique. RESULTS The primary end point is the occurrence of late adverse events, defined as aneurysm formation (≥6 cm), rapid expansion of the aorta (≥1 cm/y), fatal or nonfatal aortic rupture, new refractory pain, uncontrollable hypertension, and organ or limb malperfusion. The previously derived multivariable model will be externally validated by using Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. CONCLUSION This study will show whether a recent clinical and imaging-based risk prediction model for patients with uTBAD can be generalized to a larger population, which is an important step toward individualized risk stratification and therapy.Keywords: CT Angiography, Vascular, Aorta, Dissection, Outcomes Analysis, Aortic Dissection, MRI, TEVAR© RSNA, 2022See also the commentary by Rajiah in this issue

Multi-Locus Sequence Typing of Bartonella henselae Isolates from Three Continents Reveals Hypervirulent and Feline-Associated Clones

Bartonella henselae is a zoonotic pathogen and the causative agent of cat scratch disease and a variety of other disease manifestations in humans. Previous investigations have suggested that a limited subset of B. henselae isolates may be associated with human disease. In the present study, 182 human and feline B. henselae isolates from Europe, North America and Australia were analysed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) to detect any associations between sequence type (ST), host species and geographical distribution of the isolates. A total of 14 sequence types were detected, but over 66% (16/24) of the isolates recovered from human disease corresponded to a single genotype, ST1, and this type was detected in all three continents. In contrast, 27.2% (43/158) of the feline isolates corresponded to ST7, but this ST was not recovered from humans and was restricted to Europe. The difference in host association of STs 1 (human) and 7 (feline) was statistically significant (P≤0.001). eBURST analysis assigned the 14 STs to three clonal lineages, which contained two or more STs, and a singleton comprising ST7. These groups were broadly consistent with a neighbour-joining tree, although splits decomposition analysis was indicative of a history of recombination. These data indicate that B. henselae lineages differ in their virulence properties for humans and contribute to a better understanding of the population structure of B. henselae