Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

ECONOMY

Moderate party’s mortgage pledge ‘would harm Sweden’: Riksbank chief

The head of Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, has warned that suspending rules forcing banks to demand mortgage repayments from borrowers -- something pledged by the parties forming Sweden's next government -- would be "damaging for Sweden".

Published: 10 October 2022 13:46 CEST

Moderate party's mortgage pledge 'would harm Sweden': Riksbank chief

Stefan Ingves, the Riskbank's governor, at a press conference in Stockholm announcing the increase in rates. Photo: Paul Wennerholm/TT

All four of the parties backing Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson as Sweden’s next prime minister said in the run up to September’s election that they would either suspend or reduce the so-called “amortisation requirement” once in government.

But in an interview with the Aftonbladet newspaper, Stefan Ingves, who steps down as the bank’s governor at the end of this year, said that the measure would be poor economic policy in the current inflationary situation.

“This is an inappropriate measure which would harm Sweden if you did it,” he said. “You’ve got to understand that we have enormous amounts of mortgage debt in the Swedish economy and that the mortgage market represents a risk for the economy.”

“It would send an extremely unfortunate signal to say that as soon as it gets a bit more expensive to borrow, then you should stop amortising [paying off the interest],” he said.

Ingves’s statement came as Erik Thedéen, the general director of Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority, also criticised the proposal.

“To use the amortisation tool in the same direction as during the pandemic would quite simply be a wrong measure,” he told Sweden’s state broadcaster SR in its regular Saturday interview.

He said that if the new government wanted to help those who risk personal bankruptcy as a result of rising interest rates, there were much better ways of doing.

“Only half of households have mortgages, and they typically have fairly strong finances,” he said. “So if we want to help those with the tightest margins, then this is an extremely poor measure, when there are a lot of better measures you could come up with when it comes to finance policy.”

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

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.

Url copied to clipboard!