Thousands of rental flats privatized
Private owners have taken over 16,000 municipal rental apartments since the 2006 elections.
According to an investigation by the Hem & Hyra magazine, plans are afoot to sell an additional 45,000 units.
Municipal housing corporations own a total of 800,000 rental apartments across the country.
Of the 16,000 apartments already sold, a total of 7,000 have been converted into units for purchase as cooperatively-managed, tenant-owned apartments (bostadsrätter).
The majority flats sold are in municipalities controlled by the centre-right political parties, with around half of the sales taking place in Stockholm.
According to the magazine’s calculations, Sweden’s municipalities have privatized rental apartments worth a total of 10 billion kronor ($1.4 billion).
Adding in the additional planned sales brings the figure up to 37 billion kronor.
Anders Knape, head of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR), didn’t find it odd that Sweden’s municipalities were reducing their ownership stakes in rental apartments.
“Many municipalities are instead finding that they want to focus on their core mission, that is to say schools and welfare,” he told the magazine.
Hem & Hyra is produced by the Swedish Union of Tenants (Hyresgästföreningen) for distribution to its more than 500,000 members
Comments
See Also
According to an investigation by the Hem & Hyra magazine, plans are afoot to sell an additional 45,000 units.
Municipal housing corporations own a total of 800,000 rental apartments across the country.
Of the 16,000 apartments already sold, a total of 7,000 have been converted into units for purchase as cooperatively-managed, tenant-owned apartments (bostadsrätter).
The majority flats sold are in municipalities controlled by the centre-right political parties, with around half of the sales taking place in Stockholm.
According to the magazine’s calculations, Sweden’s municipalities have privatized rental apartments worth a total of 10 billion kronor ($1.4 billion).
Adding in the additional planned sales brings the figure up to 37 billion kronor.
Anders Knape, head of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR), didn’t find it odd that Sweden’s municipalities were reducing their ownership stakes in rental apartments.
“Many municipalities are instead finding that they want to focus on their core mission, that is to say schools and welfare,” he told the magazine.
Hem & Hyra is produced by the Swedish Union of Tenants (Hyresgästföreningen) for distribution to its more than 500,000 members
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.