By Zuzanna Szymanska

BERLIN, (Reuters) – Ukrainian refugees fleeing war are welcomed around Europe. But, the longer they remain, the greater the risk that their presence will increase pressures on housing prices in other countries such as Germany, Poland, or the Czech Republic.

Over half of the approximately 4.5million people who left Russia following the February 24 invasion went to Poland. Poland is the home of the biggest Ukrainian diaspora in the area.

Marcin Janczuk of Metrohouse Franchise local real estate company said Poland’s market for commercial property would need to grow rapidly by half-a million flats immediately to accommodate the refugee needs.

Janczuk explained that “we estimate that (Poland’s) largest cities have rental prices currently around 20% higher than the beginning of this year”, and that it was not just due to the refugee influx.

European nations have joined forces with Kyiv to fight Moscow. The majority of refugees are young people, women and children. Men below 60 years old can still fight.

Yulia Sarycheva, a refugee from Ukraine who was able to find shelter in a Prague apartment with her family said that she experiences nightly feelings of gratitude.

As the conflict drags on, there is no way to know when refugees will return, or in what form their homes will look when they do. Therefore, longer-term housing plans are becoming more important.

MEMORIES FOR 2015

Sebastian Wunsch of GEWOS Housing Research Institute said the Ukrainian Refugee influx could lead to a surge in German apartment demand. Many are in already densely populated areas.

He said that after Germany had received 1,000,000 refugees in the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe, rents increased slightly quicker at 3.5% per annum in 2015-2018, as opposed to 2.5% for 2011-2014.

Germany received about 1/8th of the number of Ukrainian refugees. However, Poland is already at the 1/15 threshold. Europe continues to debate the most equitable way of distributing the Ukrainians.

Czech officials estimate that more than 300,000.050 Ukrainian refugees entered the country of 10.7 millions people.

Agents in real estate report high rental demand.

Artem Egorov-Pozo-Sandoval, Chirs agency said that “the growth is many-fold.”

Despite increasing pressures on rental prices and house prices, statistics show that refugees actually benefit the economies of host countries by filling workforce gaps, starting businesses, and contributing to tax revenue.