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Editorial team
___________________________________________ Editor in chief: CĂŠlia Berlemont, editorial assistant: Dalida, editorial secretary: Jimmy Kimmel, Graphic designer: CĂŠlia Berlemont, Photographer: CĂŠlia Berlemont.
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First edition
November 2015
At HOME$,
we do not intend to change the world or provide our audience with free of charge accommodation (let’s be realistic folks). Yet,world’s citizens - hakuna matata - we want to keep you monthly informed about housing situations per country so that to ease your travelling ideas, preparation or simply raise your awareness.
- Célia Berlemont, Editor in chief. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The housing market 4-7 Buy or rent?
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Queuing is caring 10-11 Stockholm
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The housing market
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‘Sweden has to act now to solve housing crisis’ The market alone cannot solve Sweden’s acute housing crisis. In this week’s opinion piece, Sweden’s Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Information Technology, Mehmet Kaplan, argues that the state needs to step up to the plate. Sweden needs a long term and sustainable housing policy for everyone. The housing shortage puts future growth at risk, decreases mobility and hampers matching actors on the labour market. It requires that the state is more active and supports local councils in their responsibility to provide housing. We will not solve the housing shortage overnight, but we can take decisive steps to create sustainable conditions for the future. Today, close to 300,000 young adults between 20 and 27 years of age are without property. Over half of Sweden’s local authorities state that they have a housing shortage. The acute housing shortage above all hits the regions’ bigger cities and Sweden’s university towns. This extensive urbanization puts higher demands on who we build for, but also on how we build Sweden. The housing shortage also impacts on new arrivals to the country, who have left war and persecution and who, with their permits to stay, have gained new hope of a better life in Sweden. Their opportunities to establish themselves in Swedish society risk delay if they have to spend too much time in an asylum centre. A quick transition to a functioning residence is necessary to give people a good start in society. The properties we build today should stand for many years. From a climate and environmental perspective it is therefore important that we use those means available to get it right from the start. In the area of housing and city development politics there are several important tools available to handle the climate challenge and turn society.
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hen we build accommodation that is close to other housing, multistorey and with fewer parking spots we also create opportunities for more affordable and space efficient homes. Too few homes are being built in Sweden. There is a deficit of rented apartments on the property market no matter the geographical location. The demand for small apartments in particular is great. The housing shortage creates long queues for rented apartments and expensive apartments for buying. This makes it harder for young people and students above all to get their feet on the housing ladder, particularly as many in that group don’t have a permanent job. The government’s goal is clear: to solve the housing shortage more homes need to be built. Our goal is 250,000 homes by 2020. The focus should be on sustainable homes that are available for people with ordinary incomes. Several active measures in several areas are needed to make this a reality. 1. The state takes a greater responsibility for more housing Sweden has a serious housing shortage. The situation is exceptional and requires that the state moves in to support local authorities with their responsibility to provide housing. After several decades of housing shortage it is clear that the market alone cannot solve this in Sweden. For that reason, the state needs to assume greater financial responsibility to ensure more homes are built. The incentive for more housing construction is important to the whole society’s progress – people have the right to have a good home and that’s a prerequisite for the development of industries, higher education and all areas of growth. 2. Focus on young people, students and new arrivals The acute lack of housing hits young people, students and new arrivals the hardest. Investigating several proposals are done.
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The housing market
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ne, for example, concerns streamlining the delivery and building of modern and flexible modular homes. These can, in a flexible way, be used as homes for new arrivals but also as student housing. The government also sees a need to ensure the security of those subletting, which is something many young people, students and new arrivals do. We have ordered Boverket to evaluate the law of subletting your own home, to get a clearer picture of its consequences. 3. Sustainable urban planning The new buildings of today are usually of good quality as far as energy efficiency goes. We need to focus more on reducing carbon emissions from building material and the construction process itself, as well as making older properties more energy efficient, especially those apartment blocks built as part of the Million Programme [‘Miljonprogram’, a public housing progamme implemented in the 1960s and 70s in Sweden]. When the government’s budget was voted down last autumn, several of the measures were delayed, but the government’s energy efficiency ambitions remain. 4. Public transport investment opens the door to more homes Investing in public transport is also an investment in more homes. The Swedish Transportation Authority’s (Trafikverket) government mandate about so called ‘urban environment agreements’ means that local and regional authorities should be able to apply for the state to co-sponsor local and regional investments in public transport. This can, in turn, open the door for new, attractive locations for property con-
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struction. The housing plans being realized in Stockholm county thanks to decisions on extending the underground demonstrate how effective investments in public transport can be to create housing. 5. Increased competition Today only a few actors dominate the housing construction market. This decreases the chances for smaller companies to compete and risks making construction more expensive. This coming autumn an inquiry into the lack of competition in the construction industry will be presented. The government will then look at the measures we need to take to increase competition, decrease the cost of building and make it easier for smaller firms to compete for, for example, municipal land allocation agreements. 6. Efficient construction processes create cheaper housing Building homes needs to be done faster. Construction rules need to be simplified and the process from decision-making to a complete house must be made more efficient. Today, for example, extended appeals processes can delay construction starts by several years and make the projects significantly more expensive. The government is currently looking at the role of the regional councils for the purpose of streamlining the construction process without putting judicial security at risk nor the important democratic influence on urban development. The housing shortage can only be solved through more homes, which would increase housing market mobility. The difficult situation on the housing market requires that society to a greater extent gives active support to local authorities wishing to build more homes.
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Buy or rent?
Back to the future More than 3 of 9.5 million Swedes live in rental housing. Over half live in public housing, that is to say municipally owned rental housing. This is an obvious choice for many. It provides freedom in everyday life, good service, predictable accommodation expenses and an opportunity to exert an influence on your own housing.
However, there are also challenges. The Million Homes Programme is now facing the need of extensive improvement work. There is an urgent need to invest in energy efficiency improvements. Exclusion exists in many residential areas and needs to be combated. There is a shortage of housing and at the same time it is more difficult than ever to build at a cost that ordinary people can afford. Meanwhile, legislation means that the public housing companies have to combine their social responsibility with a business-like approach. This has promoted the emergence of strong companies with experience, knowledge and commitment ready to provide value for inhabitants, while serving their municipalities, and offering good housing for everyone, regardless of income, background, age and family situation. These companies are able to drive forward the development of areas and help to promote secure and sustainable residential areas, either independently or in collaboration with others. At the same time, they represent a long-term and competitive stakeholder in their local and regional market, promoting growth in their municipality and region. Public housing is as important for Sweden in the 21st century as it was when it was created. In a pattern similar to other Nordic property markets, Swedish property prices have nearly tripled since the mid-1990s and shrugged off the Great Recession woes to rise to incredible new heights. Swedish property prices are overvalued, currently valued at 120% of their historic price-to-income ratio and 140% of their historic price-to-rent ratio. Swedish public housing companies.
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The Rental market:
Getting started:
Is it hard to find accommodation?
How to prepare your search?
Finding accommodation is not always easy in Sweden. If you are searching in one of the major cities, it can sometimes be difficult to find somewhere to live as the highly regulated market has in some cases created a mismatch between supply and demand.
If you want to avoid a stressful experience, prepare your search well ahead of time. Accommodation is not always easy to find, so plan ahead.
The Swedish housing market works very differently from most other countries in Europe. As for other aspects of state governance, Sweden has a very “social” approach to housing. About 22% of all housing in the country is social housing, or as the Swedes prefer to call it, public housing. Such accommodation is managed by municipal companies (local council housing associations). In theory, anyone can rent a council house, but high demand means waiting lists are very long in the major cities. In the centre of Stockholm people can sometimes wait for more than 20 years. The system also regulates private sector rents, which are usually for units within co-operative properties. Private sector rent prices are legally prohibited from being substantially higher than those of public accommodation in the same area. This social housing system is now under strain. As the demand in major cities is incredibly high, there is a real gap between rents and market value. This means that in reality most accommodation is sublet at much higher prices, creating a parallel ‘grey’ market. Finding accommodation in Sweden can be very difficult. Even student housing is not guaranteed and most universities recommend their students to start looking well in advance. This is not the case if you are looking outside the major cities. In the North, it is very easy to find accommodation. Depopulation means somewhere in the region of 5,000 houses a year are demolished.
The best option is to start searching from your home country. There are many classified sections available on Internet. The main Swedish newspapers, such as Dagens Nyheter or the Swedish newspaper in English, the Local, have classified sections. You should also be prepared to stay in temporary accommodation, such as a hostel, hotel or guesthouse (depending on your budget) for a short period upon arrival (Sweden’s official site for tourism has a temporary accommodation section). If you are coming with your family, it may be more comfortable for them to arrive after you have found suitable accommodation. Unless you want to depend on luck, you should consider several options for your apartment search. The most important thing is to have a very clear idea of what you are looking for, otherwise you will waste time. Familiarise yourself with your new environment by walking around, seeing how transport works and asking other people about different neighbourhoods and areas. There is a wide range of options when looking for an apartment. As ever, the more you’re willing to pay (i.e. using an estate agent or relocation specialist), the easier your search will be.
There is no legal ‘buy-to-let’ market in Swedish apartments. Private landlords exist, but they usually own whole buildings rather than individual apartments and can only rent out a part of their property directly to tenants. They must rent the rest through the Bostadsfomedlingen, a state-run body for the distribution of vacant property. The Bostadsfomedlingen charges a fee to its tenants for placing them in accommodation, something to be aware of before ruling out other options. This means that you are less likely to find private landlords renting out their apartments, as you do in other EU countries.
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Queuing is caring Fairness of Sweden’s rental queues is a myth Finding a place to live is key for immigrant families that want to integrate in Sweden, but Swedish housing policy throws a spanner in the works for even the most enterprising immigrant families, argues local Liberal Party (Folkpartiet) politician Robert Hannah.
It’s hardly an understatement to say that Swedish housing policy is a fiasco that creates and perpetuates segregation. For the left, Sweden’s system of rent control is a sacred cow, while the centre-right Alliance government coalition claims that implementing market rents is too risky politically and instead busies itself with tweaks to the current system that have minimal impact.
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As many people know, finding a place to live in Sweden’s major cities is a nightmare. Worst off are families who arrive in the country and are unfamiliar with the Swedish system of queuing for rental apartments They haven’t accrued enough time in the housing queue to be able to choose where they want to live, and instead end up in unpopular and socially vulnerable areas like Hammarkullen in Gothenburg, Rosengård in Malmö and Rinkeby in Stockholm. Obviously, the risk of social problems and lower-quality education is higher for children who end up in vulnerable areas. Opportunities for getting out of such areas are so hard that, in practice, it means that Swedish society doesn’t provide equal living conditions for immigrant families and their children. Today, there are basically two options for immigrant families to move out of socially vulnerable areas: either purchasing a flat within a cooperative housing association (bostadsrätt) or get access to an apartment through the rental housing queue (hyresrätt). And subletting an apartment isn’t a stable and sustainable solution for anyone, especially not for a family. The chances of finding someone willing to trade a flat for one in a more vulnerable area is also minimal.
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uying a property requires solid finances. But for a family that has broken away from their home country and left everything behind, it takes years to start over from scratch and save enough money for a down payment. In addition, both parents need to have fairly well-paying jobs in order to buy an apartment. And we are all too well aware of the difficulties foreigners can have entering the Swedish labour market. As a result, it’s really not realistic for newly arrived families to buy an apartment during the time when their kids grow up and are of school age; a the time that is crucial to their children’s ability to succeed in their new homeland. In big cities, rent control and housing queues serve as road blocks for immigrants’ social mobility. The purpose of rent control is allegedly to ensure that apartments are distributed fairly and that anyone can live anywhere. In practice, however, the regulation of a sluggish housing market ends up cementing social exclusion. According to recent statistics from Stockholm’s own housing agency, which serves the entire county, it takes an average 15 years to get an
inner-city apartment in Stockholm. Sweden’s sacred rent control ends up having a paradoxical effect. Rental apartments in Rinkeby often cost as much to rent as highly desirable rental apartments in trendy districts in central Stockholm like Östermalm, Södermalm and Old Town. In reality, therefore, the hardworking Rinkeby family’s meager income, or the job seeker’s housing allowance, ends up subsidizing the affluent middle-class residents in Östermalm and Södermalm. It’s easy for the fine people in the inner city to be in favour of open borders and look down on ethnic Swedes in the outer suburbs that support the Sweden Democrats. But the truth is that inner-city residents rarely, if ever, run into new immigrants from socially disadvantaged suburbs. Inner city residents never visit Rinkeby and immigrants they meet either clean the toilets at the office where they work or are immigrants who, after many years of effort, managed a degree of upward social mobility.
“We are facing major integration challenges and it’s important that the whole of Swedish society take responsibility.”
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Stockholm
What happens in Stockholm will not stay in Stockholm. Housing, once the bedrock of Sweden’s welfare state, now needs radical intervention, says Rasmus Wærn. The Swedes see the welfare systems failing them. Swedes have had to get used to the government prioritizing refugees and migrants above native Swedes. “There are no apartments, no jobs, you Cabinet Ministers live in your fancy residential neighborhoods, with only Swedish neighbors.” - Laila, to the Prime Minister.
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nstead of torchlight processions against racism, we need a Prime Minister who speaks out against the violence... Unite everyone. ... Do not make it a racism thing.” -- Anders, to the Priwwme Minister. In all honesty, I don’t even feel they [government ministers] see the problems... There is no one in those meetings who can tell them what real life looks like.” – Laila, on the response she received from the government. The week after the double murder at IKEA in Västerås, where a man from Eritrea who had been denied asylum grabbed some knives and stabbed Carola and Emil Herlin to death, letters and emails poured into the offices of Swedish Prime Minister (PM) Stefan Löfven. Angry, despondent and desperate Swedes have pled with the Social Democratic PM to stop filling the country with criminal migrants from the Third World or, they write, there is a serious risk of hatred running rampant in Sweden. One woman suggested that because the Swedish media will not address these issues, Löfven should start reading foreign newspapers, and wake up to the fact that Sweden is sinking fast. During the last few decades, Swedes have had to get used to the government (left and right wing parties alike) prioritizing refugees and migrants above native Swedes. The high tax level (the average worker pays 42% income tax) was been accepted in the past, because people knew that if they got sick, or when they retired or otherwise needed government aid, they would get it. Now, Swedes see the welfare system failing them. More and more senior citizens fall into the “indigent” category; close to 800,000 of Sweden’s 2.1 million retirees, despite having worked their whole lives, are forced to live on between 4,500 and 5,500 kronor ($545 - $665) a month. Meanwhile, seniors who immigrate to Sweden receive the so-called “elderly support subsidy” -- usually a higher amount -- even though they have never paid any taxes in Sweden. Worse, in 2013 the government decided that people staying in the country illegally have a right to virtually free health and dental care. So while the destitute Swedish senior citizen must choose between paying 100,000 kronor ($12,000) to get new teeth or living toothless, a person who does not even have the right to stay in Sweden can get his teeth fixed for 50 kronor ($6). The injustice, the housing shortage, the chaos surrounding refugee housing units and the sharp slide of Swedish students in PISA tests -- all these changes have caused the Swedes to become disillusioned.
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The last straw was that Prime Minister Löfven had nothing to say about the murders at IKEA. Gatestone Institute contacted to the Swedish government, to obtain emails sent to the Prime Minister concerning the IKEA murders. According to the “principle of public access to official documents,” all Swedes have the right to study public documents kept by authorities -- with no questions asked about one’s identity or purpose. The government, however, was clearly less than enthusiastic about sharing the emails: It took a full month of reminders and phone calls before they complied with the request.
poorly because there are no jobs. Sweden has more people than jobs.” Peter wrote:
What follows are excerpts from emails sent from private citizens to Prime Minister Stefan Löfven: From Mattias, a social worker and father of four, “a dad who wants my kids to grow up in Sweden the way I had the good fortune of doing, without explosions, hand grenades, car fires, violence, rape and murder at IKEA”: “Hi Stefan. I am a 43-year-old father of four, who is trying to explain to my children, ages 6-16, what is going on in Sweden. I am sad to say that you and your party close your eyes to what is happening in Sweden. All the things that are happening [are] due to the unchecked influx from abroad. You are creating a hidden hatred in Sweden. We are dissatisfied with the way immigration is handled in Sweden, from asylum housing to school issues. And it takes so long to get a job, many people give up before they even get close. Mattias” Marcus, 21, wrote: “Hi Stefan, I am one of the people who voted for you. I live in Helsingborg, still with my parents because there are no apartments available. I can see where I live that as soon as an old person moves out, eight foreigners immediately move in: they just bypass us young, Swedish people in line. With all that is going on in Sweden -- rapes, robberies, the IKEA murders and so on -- why aren’t non-Swedes sent back to their countries when they commit crimes? Of course we should help refugees, but they should be the right kind of refugees. ... I’m sorry to say this, Stefan, but the Sweden Democrats should be allowed to rule for four years and remove the people who do not abide by the laws, and who murder or destroy young women’s lives. It is horrible, I have a job that pays
“Esteemed Prime Minister. I am writing to you because I am very worried about the development in Swedish society. I am met daily by news of shootings, exploding hand grenades/bombs, beatings, rapes and murders. This is our Sweden, the country that, when you and I grew up, was considered one of the safest in the world. “You, in your role as Prime Minister, have a responsibility to protect everyone in the land, regardless of whether they were born here or not. Unfortunately, I can see that you are not taking your responsibility seriously. I follow the news daily, and despite our now having suffered another act of madness, this time against a mother and son at IKEA, I do not see any commitment from you? ... “You should emphatically condemn the violent developments we see in this country, allocate resources to the police, customs and district attorneys to slow and fight back (not just build levees and overlook) criminal activity.” Sebastian wrote: “Hi Stefan! After reading about the horrible deed at IKEA in Västerås, I am now wondering what you are going to do to make me feel safe going to stores and on the streets of Sweden. What changes will there be to make sure this never happens again? Will immigration really continue the same way?”
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Stockholm
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i, I’m wondering, why is the government quiet about such an awful incident? The whole summer has been characterized by extreme violence, shootings, knifings and explosions. The government needs to take vigorous action so we can feel safe.”
the truth. We Swedes can’t change apartments, we live five people in three bedrooms.
Two of us are unemployed, looking, looking Laila’s subject line and looking for reads: work. The only option is employment agencies. I’m 50 “Is it supposed years old, on part-time sick leave because of two to be like this?” chronic illnesses, I cannot run around from one place to another. But more and more asylum seekers keep coming in. There are no “Are we supposed to go apartments, no jobs, we don’t dare go shopping outside without arming anymore, but we’re supposed to think everything’s ourselves? Rape after rape great. “Unfortunately, I believe the Prime Minister occurs and no one is doing needs to start reading foreign newspaper to find anything about it. I was born and raised in Vårby out that Sweden is going under. I found out that the Gård, but seven years ago, we had to move because mass immigration costs billions every year, and the we couldn’t take the dogs out in the evenings due only thing the immigrants do is smoke waterpipes to the non-Europeans driving on the sidewalks. If in places like Vårby Gård. This is happening in other you didn’t move out of the way, they would jump places too, of course. Now it’s starting to spread; out of the car and hit you. If you called the police, you will see that in the opinion polls, next time they they do nothing -- in a suburb of Stockholm. When are published. Soon, all Swedes will vote for the my brother told some of these men off, a rocket (the Sweden Democrats. They are getting more and kind you use at New Year’s) appeared in his mailbox. more supporters every day. You can imagine how loud the blast was. Women and girls are raped by these non-European men, “You Cabinet Ministers do not live in the exposed who come here claiming they are unaccompanied areas, you live in your fancy residential neighborchildren, even though they are grown men.... hoods, with only Swedish neighbors. It should be
“Hi Stefan, why don’t you, as our Prime Minister, react more against all the violence that is escalating in our country? [Such as] the double murder at IKEA in Västerås. Add to that the bombings and other things happening in Malmö. Instead of torchlight processions against racism, we need a Prime Minister who speaks out against the violence, who says that it’s wrong no matter which ethnic group is behind it or at the receiving end of it.” - Anders “It is easy to get weapons today, I wonder if that is what we Swedes need to do, arm ourselves to dare to go shopping. Well, now I am getting to what happened at a major department store: Two people were killed and not just killed, there is talk online of beheading. “The Prime Minister will not say a word, but resources are allocated to asylum housings, a slap in the face for the relatives who just had two of their kin slain. Swedish newspapers will not say a word, but fortunately, there are foreign newspapers that tell
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obligatory for all politicians to live for at least three months in an area consisting mostly of immigrants, the car should be taken from you so you’d have to use public transport. ... After three months, you would see my point. “I am scared stiff of what is happening in this country. What will the government do about this?” “Because all the people living in Sweden are Swedish, right? A torchlight procession against racism only highlights the fact that it’s immigrants com-
mitting these crimes. What we need now is a clear signal from our popularly elected [officials] that violence needs to stop now. Sweden is supposed to be a haven away from violence. “I’m asking you as our Prime Minister, take a stand against the violence. Unite everyone in Sweden into one group and do not make it a racism thing.” Some of the people received a reply from Carl-Johan Friman, of the Government Offices Communications Unit; others have not received any reply at all. A typical response goes: “Thank you for your email to Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. I’ve been asked to reply and confirm that your email has reached the Prime Minister’s Office and is now available for the Prime Minister and his staff. It is of course not acceptable that people should be exposed to violence and criminal activities in their everyday life. Many efforts are made to counteract violence, and quite correctly, this needs to be done without pitting groups against each other. Thank you for taking the time to write and share your views, they are important in shaping government policies.” Gatestone Institute contacted Laila, one of the people who emailed, and asked her if she was satisfied with the answer she got. Laila replied: “No, I’m not satisfied with the answer, because they didn’t even respond to what I was talking about. In all honesty, I don’t even feel they see the problems. They’re talking about what it looks like when they have their meetings, but there’s no one in those meetings who can tell them what real life looks like. It feels like the answer I got was just a bunch of nonsense. They understand that people are scared. They talk about demonstrating against racism; they seem to be completely lost. The politicians do not understand how things work in Swedish society, because they live in their safe, snug neighborhoods where things are quiet. But a lot of Swedes are forced to live in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods, because they cannot afford an apartment somewhere else.” The anger at the government’s non-reaction to the IKEA-murders also led to a demonstration at Sergels Torg, Stockholm’s main public square, on September 15. Hundreds of protesters demanded the government’s resignation, and held a minute of silence for the slain mother and son, Carola and Emil Herlin.
The organizers plan to hold similar protests every month throughout Sweden. If you have ever tried to find a place to rent in a Swedish city you have probably hit a wall at some point. Now, the independent Housing Crisis Committee (or Bokriskommittén) has come up with a two-pronged approach to resolving Sweden’s housing crisis: increase construction and facilitate mobility on the market. “We hope the political system will understand that the problems are now so large that it’s time to do something about them… We can see that in many political parties, there is great knowledge about this but they have to make an effort to introduce reforms.” There is a need for a broad political agreement to introduce a comprehensive new housing policy that can survive beyond the general election in September, Hasselgren said. Hasselgren argued that politicians need to help simplify and speed up planning processes and reduce construction regulations. Tax system reforms are also among the proposals presented by the Committee and it wants a more free system for setting prices for rented apartments. The lack of housing in Sweden is having major impacts, said Hasselgren. “There is a much higher demand for rental apartments in the big cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö where people wait in housing queues for years and years. And as for the labour market – you can’t move if you can’t get a job. Sweden stands out internationally in having one
of the most regulated rented housing markets in the world.
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I’m homeless too you know.