Jobbik calls for govt action over rising rents

The conservative opposition Jobbik party on Monday called on the government to take immediate action over rising rents in Budapest and university cities across the country. Gergely Farkas, the party's deputy group leader, told a news conference that high rents are becoming an insoluble problem for many young people. Jobbik recommends that the government should speed up the construction and renovation of dormitories, develop the existing local council rental housing system and implement a social housing rental scheme, he said. In response to a question, Farkas said some 20,000 new dormitory places would be needed in Budapest and the larger university cities, arguing that dormitories are forced to reject around 30-40 percent of applicants.