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OSLO

Olympic bosses demand own VIP hotel floor

The International Olympic Committee is demanding that Oslo provide its officials with an entire VIP floor of a luxury hotel, with their own dedicated medical staff available 24/7, as part of the price of hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022.

Olympic bosses demand own VIP hotel floor
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach - Photo: International Olympic Committee
The IOC's demands, which were posted yesterday on the Oslo 2022 website, also stipulate that when IOC President Thomas Bach arrives at the airport, he must be greeted by a delegation on the runway. 
 
The documents were published following a campaign run by Libe Rieber-Mohn, Oslo's deputy mayor, and Carl Hagen from the Progress Party. 
 
"There have been many who have had questions and wondered what's in these manuals, and now you can see it for yourself," Stian Berger, who is leading Oslo's bid, told NRK. "The aim is to remove the uncertainty that the secrecy has created." 
 
Oslo officially applied to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in November, a day before the official deadline, promising to spent  a comparatively low 34 billion kroner (4.1 billion euro, $5.5 billion) on the games. 
   
Oslo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1952, while Lillehammer hosted a highly successful competition in 1994, making the Norwegian capital a clear favourite for 2022.
   
Public support is guaranteed, after 55 percent of residents voted yes to the Olympic bid last September.
   
The other candidate cities are Stockholm, Beijing, Krakow (with events held in other Polish locations and in neighbouring Slovakia), Lviv (Ukraine) and
Almaty (Kazakhstan).
   
Munich, a potentially tough competitor who finished as runner-up for the 2018 Winter Games, withdrew its bid in November. 
 

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RENTING

Rental prices in Norway’s biggest cities continue to rise

The cost of renting in Norway's four largest cities rose overall during the third quarter, with prices up six percent this year, figures from Real Estate Norway show. 

Rental prices in Norway's biggest cities continue to rise

A sharp increase in rent prices in Norway continued throughout the third quarter, figures from Real Estate Norway (Eiendom Norge) released on Tuesday show. 

“Real Estate Norway’s rental housing price statistics show a historically strong rise in rental housing prices in Norway in the third quarter,” Henning Lauridsen, CEO of Real Estate Norway, stated in a report on the latest figures. 

Growth was most robust in Stavanger and Oslo, according to Real Estate Norway. 

“The strong growth in rental prices we have seen in the wake of the pandemic continued in the third quarter, and it is particularly in the Stavanger region and in Oslo that the growth in rental prices is strong,” Lauridsen said. 

Stavanger and nearby Sandnes saw the largest price increases, with the cost of renting there increasing by 4.7 percent during the third quarter. During the same period, rents in Oslo increased by 2.5 percent, while a marginal 0.3 percent rise was recorded in Trondheim. 

While the cost of renting in Norway’s four largest cities overall increased by 2 percent, rental prices in Bergen declined. There, rents fell by 2.5 percent in the third quarter.

Lauridsen said that the increase in rental prices was likely to continue due to several factors. High inflation, interest rates, increased taxes on rental properties and a low supply of homes on the market all contributed to increasing rents. 

However, he did note that the supply of rental homes on the market had increased in Trondheim and Oslo since the summer. 

Lauridsen said that the least well-off financially were being hit hardest by rent rises. Previously, the Norwegian government has informed The Local that it will not introduce a temporary cap on rent increases. 

READ MORE: Norway’s government rules out a temporary rent cap

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