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PROPERTY

Opinion: ‘Sweden’s housing policy has failed an entire generation’

Sweden's housing policies have left an entire generation behind, as it is impossible for most to afford a newly built apartment on their own, argues Hanna Franzén from the Skåne Left Party Youth.

Published: 16 May 2017 06:59 CEST
Opinion: 'Sweden's housing policy has failed an entire generation'
Does Sweden need an ambitious new housing project like the Million Programme? Photo: Hasse Holmberg/TT

A new report from the Swedish Union of Tenants (Hyresgästföreningen) shows that 8,600 young people between the age of 20 and 27 in Malmö and Lund are forced to continue living at home with their parents.

The report confirms what we young people already knew: we are the first generation with poorer access to both housing and work than our parents. The report puts a figure on a reality that young people already feel.

The extensive housing shortage, and above all the lack of cheap rental contracts has existed for a long time. In 2003 the number was already high: 23 percent of all young people then did not have their own home. Since then, the proportion of young people forced to live in their family home has grown.

That's despite the repeated warnings and reports that showed how an unsustainable system was building too few homes, and when it was building, it was building homes that are too expensive. The Swedish Union of Tenants report shows that 8,400 young people in Malmö and Lund live on such a low income that they have the right to welfare.

It's impossible for most young people to move into an expensive newly built apartment, and housing policy has so far been unable to solve the housing shortage.

READ ALSO: Renovation means eviction because of Sweden's housing crisis

Today's class society is reflected in the Union of Tenants report. It shows that young people who have parents or relatives who can help them to buy a bostadsrätt (the right to an apartment in a building owned by a housing cooperative that is a common method of home ownership in Sweden) also have a lower monthly cost of living. In other words, those who already have money pay less per month than those who are already in a difficult financial situation.

Sweden needs policies that reduce today's class divisions, not policies that make them bigger. The right to housing should never be a class issue. The small group in society that is already in the best position is favoured by current housing policy, while us others have to pay a higher price for their right to high society neighbourhoods with a sea view.

A new, modern Million Programme (a Swedish government program where one million new homes were built between 1965 and 1975) is needed in Sweden. The state needs to finance the building of new and affordable rental housing that us young people have the right to live in. We have built one million houses before, we can do it again.


Housing built in Täby as part of the Million Programme. Photo: Hasse Holmberg/TT

READ ALSO: This is what one million gets you from Sweden's property market

Modern, environmentally friendly housing is needed, not only in Malmö and Lund, but across all of Sweden, and the state needs to provide support and financing. A state housing company with ultimate responsibility is needed to solve the housing shortage. Today's system, where the rental market and private housing companies push up prices, has failed an entire generation, and it is time to take the housing shortage seriously.

Today, large chunks of public housing is sold despite the need for more rental contracts than ever before. MKB (Malmö Municipal Housing) is selling 1,650 houses in Rosengård for example, and rental prices are at risk of surging as a result. Private parties have been allowed to take over the housing market and we know that their desire for profit is always going to set the direction. The right to housing should not depend on a capital owner's desire to maximize profit.

READ ALSO: How Sweden's Million Programme suburbs became cool

A young person’s right to security and dignity is at risk when the housing market is deregulated.

Today's policies favour a small elite while us others are forced to live in the family home until we turn 27. We demand policies that put a young person's right to a home first.

This is a translation of an opinion piece written in Swedish by Skåne Left Party Youth member Hanna Franzén that was originally published by Sydsvenskan.

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PROPERTY

INTERVIEW: ‘Most foreigners in Sweden don’t know they can get back excess rent’

In Sweden, people subletting apartments are not allowed to charge more in rent than they themselves pay. But foreign subtenants don't always know this. We asked Roland Sjölin, lawyer at the Swedish Tenants' Association, about how to get back excess rent.

Published: 18 April 2024 15:19 CEST
Updated: 21 April 2024 08:12 CEST
INTERVIEW: 'Most foreigners in Sweden don't know they can get back excess rent'

More and more of the people asking the Swedish Tenants’ Association, Hyresgästföreningen in Swedish, for help with excess rent are foreigners, Sjölin told The Local in an interview.

“The problem is that if you’re coming from another country, and you’re subletting an apartment, you’re probably not familiar with the rules in Sweden, because in other countries, it might be okay to overcharge your tenants.” 

He said that clients from India in particular seeking help from the association were now “very common”. 

“Many people come here to work as engineers in the IT sector and then have to rent somewhere,” he said, adding that as a group Indians appeared to be “very aware of their rights.”

Sweden’s rental sector is heavily regulated, with first hand contracts negotiated between landlords and the Tenants’ Association, and the rent that can be charged for second-hand contracts limited to only a small fraction above what the first-hand renter pays. 

“You’re not allowed to make any profit subletting an apartment in Sweden,” Sjölin explains. “You can only charge the subletting tenant the same rent as you [the first-hand tenant] are paying to your landlord, and then you can add the costs for internet and electricity, and perhaps a parking lot, if that is included.” 

Tenants’ Association lawyer Roland Sjölin. Photo: supplied.

You can also add a påslag or “markup”, if you are renting out the apartment fully furnished, but this cannot exceed more than 15 percent of the rent. 

That doesn’t mean that most landlords follow the law. The competition for rental apartments, especially in Stockholm, is so intense, that unscrupulous sublet landlords often try to get away with charging well over the legal amount, charging what is known in Sweden as ockerhyra, or “excess rent” and hoping that their tenants are too desperate to complain.  

What many foreigners do not realise is that even after the rental period is over, they can still get back any excess rent they have paid by applying to the Rental Board or Hyresnämnden, which functions like a court judging rental disputes. 

“If you have the evidence then it’s fairly easy,” Sjölin said. “I get a new case every second week on repayment of unfair rent, and I think that I win most of them.” 

“Nowadays, you can get paid back excess rent up to 24 months back in time, so people tend to get more money,” he added. “In some cases, they can get 200,000 kronor. In other cases, perhaps it’s only 30,000 kronor or 60,000 kronor. It depends on how long you have rented the apartment, and how excessive the rent you’ve been paying has been.”

The first step is to establish what would have been a fair rent, either by asking your landlord what they themselves pay directly or by checking with the Tenants’ Association.

“Because we negotiate most rents in Sweden, we normally know what the firsthand rent is,” Sjölin explained.

Then you need to collect together your evidence.

“It’s a good thing to have a written contract and also papers from your bank showing that you paid rent every month, and perhaps photographs of the apartment, so the rental board can get an idea of the apartment you were renting and what would be a fair rent, and also the termination for the contract so you can show the court how long you’ve been living in the apartment.” 

But Sjölin underlined that since Sweden has free burden of evidence, none of this is essential. 

“Even if you’ve been paying in cash, if you have witnesses who can testify what you were paying each month, you still have a chance of getting your money back. It’s a bit more tricky, but I’ve won two cases like that this year.” 

People in Sweden, he explained, tend to wait until the rental period is over before seeking to get paid back excess rent rather than challenging their landlord while they are still living in the apartment. 

“You don’t have any legal protection for your home for the first two years, so if you bring the matter up with the person you’re renting the apartment from you risk losing your contract and having to move out, so most people wait until they’re supposed to move anyway,” he said.

If you apply to the rental board for a refund close to the day you move out, you can then make your landlord pay back all excess rent paid in the 24 months leading up to the date you contacted the rental board.

If you are a member of the Tenants’ Association, you can contact them and ask for help with your application, but there are also specialist companies, like Orimlig Hyra AB who will buy your case off you and give you a refund within 48 hours, saving you a long wait in exchange for a cut of the money reclaimed. 

Sjölin said that the rental board normally took about 8 months to come to a judgement, but that if the person with the first hand contract appeals, that could extend the waiting time by between six months and a year.

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