in Sweden, the “universal” rental market is struggling

In May, Monisha Mohan, 33, an assistant teacher at an international school in Lund, a university town in southern Sweden, had to leave the apartment she was renting. since a year. “My landlord did not have the authorization of the trustee to extend the lease. “ The young woman was lucky: she found a studio, not far from her work, at 700 euros for 30 square meters. The contract is for one year. She hopes it will be renewed.

Of Indian origin, Monisha has already moved four times since arriving in the country in 2014. Yet she registered with the municipal housing company in 2018. But you have to wait between five and ten years for get an apartment.

Lund is no exception. In Stockholm, the average length of time to obtain a rental contract is nine years. In Gothenburg, the second city of the Scandinavian kingdom, located on the west coast, it takes six years. In Malmö, in the south of the country, it is one thousand and eight days, or a little less than three years.

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Under these conditions, it is not surprising that it is on a reform project providing for the partial liberalization of rents that the Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, was overthrown, on June 21, 2021. Never before, in national history, a head of government had not been removed from office by a vote of no confidence from the deputies.

The crisis only lasted sixteen days, while the Social Democratic leader was restored to office. However, this episode showed how the subject was divided, in a country where all parties agree to recognize the dysfunctions of the rental market, without agreeing on the solutions.

To understand the problem, we have to come back to the specifics of the Swedish model. First particularity: the kingdom made the choice, very early on, not to build social housing, preferring to opt for a universal system. “The idea developed by the Social Democrats after the war was that if we built enough, there would be enough housing for everyone”, explains Hans Lind, former professor of real estate economics, now retired.

Strict regulations

Since 1947, the municipalities have been responsible for ensuring that supply meets demand. United within the organization Sveriges Allmännytta (Public Housing Sweden), municipal housing companies together own 915,000 apartments out of the 1.6 million that are rented. The rest is managed by real estate companies.

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