February 17, 2009: Renting in Stockholm 101 (and why it stresses me out)
On Friday, my landlord wrote to me with the exciting news that she is engaged and pregnant. I am very happy for her. But this news put me in the frame of mind to discuss Stockholm’s rental market with you. Or perhaps write a series of posts about housing here. I haven’t decided yet. What we can know for certain is that today’s topic will be: The Swedish housing rental market is different from the US market— markedly more regulated and difficult for an outsider to gain entrance— and it stresses me out.
The basics:
There are two methods of renting, first hand and second hand.
First hand:
First hand contracts come from the government. As far as I can tell, the government owns most rental apartments. They rent these apartments for much cheaper than the price the market would bear. To get a government apartment, sign up on the list and pay about 250 SEK every year to stay on the list. The longer you’ve been waiting, the more preference you get. If you’ve been on the list for 20 years, you can probably get an apartment in a central-ish area of Stockholm. The benefit of this system is that, unlike the US, you don’t have to be wealthy to live in the center of the city. I find this egalitarianism-with-regard-to-wealth sweet. However, this system does disadvantage outsiders. Overall, I think that that’s nicer than disadvantaging the poor. But as an outsider myself, my only option is second hand renting.
Second hand:
Every apartment not owned by the government is a co-op. Renting a co-op apartment is called second hand and comes in varying shades of illegal. My first apartment here was registered with the government as an office and was forbidden to be rented out. My current apartment is registered as an apartment and is legal to rent out if the owner has a valid excuse— love or work will do— but only for a short period of time. (Note: even though my landlord owns the apartment, her ability to sublet is regulated— partly by the co-op board and partly by the government.) My landlord has a 3 year job outside Sweden. So, mostly legal! Swedish police, I will miss you. BUT, it’s illegal for my landlord to charge me as much as she does. Yes, the government regulates that too. So I give a large percentage of my rent to her mother in cash every second month (brown paper bag optional). Second hand contracts can be pricey.
Stress, elucidated:
Perhaps someone with a stronger stomach would not be bothered by this system. For me, it’s maddeningly stressful. The 3 legs on which my stress stands are:
1) If I have a second hand contract, I have it because someone else’s life is in flux. Second hand rentals don’t really exist unless the landlord wants to hold on to her ownership/rental contract until she decides she needs or doesn’t need the apartment again. If she needs it, I must leave. If she dosen’t need it, she will probaby get rid of it soon enough, and I must leave. While renting, I must always keep in mind that at any point I might be given notice to start finding yet another temporary apartment.
2) When I am given that notice, it will be hard to find a new place. The fact that I’m willing to dabble in the illegal does not make it easy for me to find an apartment. I was very lucky to find the apartments that I have had. My impression is that for any available second-hand contract there are more than 20 people interested. Many people seem awed by my luck at finding two subsequent apartments in the center of town. Finding them was not easy. For the first contract, I sent out 100 email queries and only got one response. My current landlord is a friend of a friend whom I was lucky enough to meet just before she was moving out of Stockholm.
3) I worry—despite my adviser’s reassurances— that doing something illegal will cause me to get deported.
The take-away:
Thank you for listening to/skimming this rant. In short, there are many things to love about Sweden. For me, apartment renting isn’t one of them.
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