Abstract: This paper presents both statistical and qualitative analyses examining the micro-level repercussions of state intervention, specifically the implementation of rent control systems and requisitioning in the housing rental markets of Southeast- and East-Central European regions in the aftermath of the First World War. The numerical assessment relies on the calculation of the residual postwar purchasing power parity of prewar rents, while the qualitative analysis endeavors to reconstruct the daily dynamics of coexistence among conflicting parties, encompassing instances of extreme intimidation and violence. 

Keywords: rent control system, inflation, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, interwar period

Summary

The article focuses on the micro-context of relations between landlords and tenants during the interwar period in countries in Southeast and East Central Europe. The analysis delves into the immediate economic consequences of the rent control system (RCS), which manifested in the reduced purchasing power of rents, as well as the impact of disrupted price relations on daily interactions between landlords and tenants. The primary units of examination comprise pairs of countries representing respective European regions: Bulgaria and Yugoslavia for Southeastern Europe, and Poland and Czechoslovakia for East Central Europe. Chronologically, this research spans the period immediately following the end of the First World War, a time marked by significant state intervention in housing relations across interwar Europe. The study is grounded in available data from national statistical publications of the interwar period as well as a comparative dataset from the International Labor Organization from 1924. Qualitative analysis of the daily dynamics of interactions between tenants and landlords is primarily based on reports provided by newspapers representing the viewpoints of their interest groups. State intervention, aimed at significantly reducing the pre-war purchasing power of rents, consistently fueled dissatisfaction among property owners. The prolonged duration of emergency measures in housing relations further exacerbated the already strained relationships between tenants and building or apartment owners. Disagreements between them escalated over time into open conflicts and physical altercations, with documented cases of murder. In the short term, state intervention in the rental housing sector undoubtedly alleviated social hardships and challenges associated with wartime and immediate postwar circumstances across Europe. However, the prolonged implementation of these measures during the 1920s and 1930s led to anomalies, abuses, and deviations from prescribed policy principles. Both qualitative and numerical analyses of housing policy and the illustrative examples presented in the preceding sections confirm the negative assessment of the economic effects of the first-generation RCS application. This prevailing view applies to countries in both Southeast and East Central Europe. Not only was state intervention not always in favor of the economically disadvantaged, but it also contributed in the long term to the deterioration of housing infrastructure and deepening social disturbances at the local level.