It is a bit more complicated than that. The landlords are not raising the rent much (because laws exist already in that place) but rather 'offer' a new snow ser

It is a bit more complicated than that. The landlords are not raising the rent much (because laws exist already in that place) but rather 'offer' a new snow service (that you have to get, even though that we have maybe 2 half snow days a year) for 300 € a year, and a new janitor service for 50 € a month and so on. They upgrade your building (meaning you cannot really live there due to construction noises) and then put most of the upgrading price on top of your rent. And finally, the big landlord companies do not exist due to success but due to big investment fonds deciding that it makes sense to buy many houses in such a cheap city. And to be honest, the actually good renting laws also play a big rule in this as they protect rents very good and such a single bad renter can become a big problem for small landlords. Also you have to cover so many restrictions etc that it becomes expensive/challenging to rent out (i.e my collegue is currently suing his landlady for a decrease in rent of 580€ per month due to an error in the contract)