Rental housing etc.

Markus Kallifatides (S)

Mr. Speaker! We Social Democrats often speak about the rental housing. We do so because the political right favors those who already own their housing and builds castles in the air around thoughts that the vast majority should own their housing, in a society where homelessness has actually persisted for decades.

In reality, the economic and social gaps in Sweden are increasing, as are the housing shortage, overcrowding, and housing anxiety. Now, the anxiety also exists among municipal councilors in municipalities with large industrial establishments underway and among various chambers of commerce. The passive, supposedly inflation-fighting economic policy contributes to this.

The first thing the Tidö majority did after the formation of the government in 2022 was to prematurely phase out the fully functioning investment support for the construction of rental apartments, including student housing, with lower rent levels. The municipalities' operations are underfunded, which naturally contributes to poorer management of the responsibility for housing supply. In the right-wing Sweden, "renovictions" and social dumping are occurring, with the Riksdag's good memory and in particular the active participation of bourgeois municipal politicians.

The property owners, Mr. Speaker, naturally do not intend to let the ongoing crisis in the construction sector go to waste. Never let a crisis go to waste! That is, a purposeful campaign is now underway to once again raise demands for so-called free rent setting in new production, that is to say, to bypass the tenants' collective organizing and the parties' model on the rental market.

This parliamentary majority prioritizes lowered taxes and increased tax deductions, preferably for high-income earners. This parliamentary majority prioritizes lowered taxes and abolished reduction obligations for increased emissions from car traffic over housing construction and over reasonable conditions for tenants. This parliamentary majority prioritizes fueling people's fear of inflation over saving jobs in the construction sector and over the housing supply and industrial development.

Mr. Speaker! In the report we are debating tonight, the Committee on Civil Affairs proposes that a small number of motions be dismissed. We Social Democrats support the committee's proposed decision in the matter.

In this report and others from our committee, a large number of motions are also handled in simplified procedure. I nevertheless wish to take the opportunity to account for the Social Democratic proposals that the committee majority unfortunately rejects even this parliamentary year.

We Social Democrats believe that the economy and the security in our social fabric are being held back by a lack of housing in almost the entire country. We want to change this and therefore want to see a general social housing policy. It is fundamentally about three overarching tasks: to build more and sustainable homes, to counter social segregation, and to make it possible also for economically weak groups to meet their housing needs.

Segregation in our country is not broken by special solutions for the resource-weak. Housing and tenure forms shall be mixed. Overcrowding shall be combated through community building. That is why we shall continue to build rental apartments that ordinary people can afford to live in - in the whole country and in all areas.

We Social Democrats are therefore also clear that state funding is needed for the new construction of housing, not least in the situation we now have with a complete collapse in housing construction. Therefore, we Social Democrats in the Riksdag have proposed

a construction stimulus for the construction of student housing and apartments in municipalities with large industrial expansions

state-subsidized construction loans for new production of apartments

start loans for first-time buyers in accordance with the completed investigation proposal

further development of the housing allowance as the important housing policy tool it is for economically weaker households

investigation of a state-owned real estate company as a shock absorber during economic cycles and a purposeful and cost-effective way to prevent, reduce and counteract segregation

establishment of a housing commission with all relevant parties in order to constructively and jointly meet the challenges in both the short and long term

introduction of a modern right of first refusal to increase the municipalities' ability to realize their housing supply plans and work towards order and clarity in the real estate and rental markets.

Furthermore, we have proposed that the Public Procurement Act, LOU, should not be applied to public utility housing companies, meaning that newly built municipally owned rental apartments can become cheaper and not be stopped by legal proceedings regarding procurement issues.

We Social Democrats have therefore presented a long series of sharp reform proposals so that more housing, and not least rental apartments, shall be added, both in the short term, despite the acute crisis situation with shock-high interest rates and rising construction costs, and in the longer term under more normalized circumstances. The united right in this Riksdag has so far rejected all of our proposals.

Mr. Speaker! Within the framework of the report on the area of rental housing that we are discussing today, certain minor changes have been announced. A tightening of the rules for lodgers in rental housing is underway, which we Social Democrats welcome. Proposals for the mediation of rental apartments according to criteria other than straight chronological time, expanded use of municipal rental guarantees, and certain clarifications regarding the municipalities' responsibility for housing supply are now out for consultation from the government, so here, two years after the investigation report Lower the threshold to a good home proposed these measures.

Other proposals remain unreferred. These include, among others, proposals for a new housing supply act, which includes a national action plan for housing supply, new tools for state governance of housing construction, and enhanced housing allowances as the effective tool it is for more equal upbringing conditions for all children.

We Social Democrats propose better conditions for tenants:

a slower and longer phase-in period for rent increases during renovation

strengthened security of tenure in the rental of private dwellings

that luxury renovations aimed at replacing tenants in the existing rental housing stock are stopped, among other things, by introducing the concept of "reasonable" as a basis for assessment in appeals to the Rent Tribunal regarding renovations.

We therefore have concrete proposals to put a stop to "renoviction" - proposals so that Sweden's millions of tenants can feel more secure in their housing. But the right-wing majority, that is, the Sweden Democrats, the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, has rejected all of this.

More and safer homes, including rental apartments, will not be realized. Better conditions for tenants we will not get. Luxury-rut, luxury-rot, and record margins for banks we get. A more unequal and less secure society we get. The green industrial transition we risk undermining. Sweden should be able to do better than this.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Larry Söder (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Interesting! One can observe that the crisis regarding rental apartments, or the need for more rental apartments, did not arise in 2022 but significantly earlier. Regardless of whether it has been an alliance government or a Social Democratic government, one has not succeeded in solving this. Regardless of whether it has been a Social Democratic majority or an alliance majority in Stockholm City Hall, one has not succeeded in solving it. This is, therefore, a shared responsibility, in one way or another.

In the 60s, the Social Democratic Prime Minister Tage Erlander was asked what tip he had for a couple looking for a home. The tip from Tage Erlander was to join the housing queue. If you do that today in Stockholm, there are over 800,000 people ahead of you in the queue. There are just over 400,000 rental apartments in Stockholm. This means that all rental apartments must change owners twice before it is the turn of the person who has just joined the queue.

My question to the Social Democrats is: Is your best tip for those seeking housing still to join a housing queue?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Markus Kallifatides (S)

Mr. Speaker! Joining the housing queue is still a good tip. Many of the 800,000 in Stockholm's housing queue are not necessarily in immediate need of a new home. They are not homeless. But around 10 percent of the 800,000 are more actively seeking housing.

The nut to crack then as now – in Erlander's time and in Larry Söder's and my time – is to maintain a steady pace of construction and to ensure that housing is added in all forms of tenure.

We Social Democrats have now proposed to the Riksdag, the Moderate Party, and others that we, preferably jointly, should ensure that the state takes a step forward, not least in the acute crisis situation with shock-high interest rates and sharply rising construction costs that we have seen. Then we could jointly agree that at least temporary measures with financial support for new production could be relevant. There are also government inquiries that have now proposed exactly this for this government. In those cases, it particularly concerned Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties, but the investigator himself points out that the proposals in the inquiry are valid for the entire country.

In the slightly longer term, it is hoped that a consensus can be found broadly in the Riksdag for various measures within planning of construction, urban planning, measures regarding competition conditions and legal regulation of construction that would lower cost levels and facilitate new production. Among other things, that is why we have, from our side, proposed a construction crisis commission or a housing commission where one could sit down and talk properly and perhaps be able to arrive at models that could hold over the mandate periods.

Yes, it is still a good idea to be in a housing queue as well.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Larry Söder (KD)

Madam Speaker! The housing queue has increased quite radically in Stockholm from the beginning of the 2000s until now. The government has tried various measures to increase the construction of rental apartments, but it has not succeeded. The housing queue has increased all the time.

I believe it is so simple that one must ensure that rental apartments become a market, as they should be. That is to say, one must ensure that there is free rent setting in new production, so that producers will want to build rental apartments. I do not believe that it is possible to solve this in any other way with small subsidies from the state.

We have tried. It can be stated that at the beginning of the 2000s, there were 400,000 rental apartments in Stockholm County. Today, there are still 400,000 rental apartments in Stockholm County. In order for this to be increased, there must be an incentive for property owners to actually want to have rental apartments. One should not build rental apartments and then have to convert them into something else as soon as possible just to be able to get to building at all.

I mean that free rent setting is something that one should be able to look at. The Social Democrats have produced a bill that was laid before the Riksdag during the last parliamentary term. Could the Social Democrats imagine looking at this and submitting a proposal to the Riksdag again? It is your own bill, so it should be possible.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Markus Kallifatides (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Larry Söder, for the question! I believe I forgot to say thank you in my previous contribution.

No, for us that question lies very far down in the filing cabinet, not least because a Social Democratic government had to resign because of that question.

We safeguard the parties' model. Our basic position is that we have a system with presumed rents. We look forward to the investigation that Larry Söder's government has commissioned, which is to be reported by the autumn. We see that the system needs an adjustment so that it works for the parties in the housing sector.

When it comes to Stockholm, there are very many people who dream of a reasonably priced rental apartment in the center of the country's capital. That is the case. But the number of such apartments is not, like, increasing. However, there are more and more people who would gladly live at Östermalmstorg, near the Riksdag, or in Gamla stan. We have an incredibly limited supply and a constantly growing desire for such apartments. That is the basic mechanism when it comes to just Stockholm, the big city.

Around the turn of the millennium, it also became very easy to stand in a housing queue with the digitalization. It became simple to pay by autogiro every year. In addition, there came the large wave of conversions. The explanation for why the number of rental apartments is stagnating specifically in Stockholm is, among other things, that bourgeois majorities in Stockholm City Hall have donated public property at scrap prices to individual citizens. It is a deeply problematic occurrence in Swedish contemporary history, I would say if Larry Söder were to ask me. There are, therefore, many explanations for the figures one can see.

The answer to Larry Söder's question is no.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

David Josefsson (M)

Madam Speaker! Sara contacted Stadsmissionen when she was pregnant with her third child. She and her two children were then living with a friend, a housing situation that would soon need to end. Sara is separated from the children's father. She has several jobs and manages to combine them to the equivalent of a full-time position. She is in the queue for several different housing sites and also actively seeks housing via, for example, Facebook and Blocket.

Stadsmissionen helped Sara get in contact with the social services, which however stated that their assistance measures could become relevant only when Sara was completely homeless. Now the family moves between different temporary accommodations, which creates stress and insecurity for both Sara and the children.

Madam Speaker! The story of Sara is one of several stories found in Stadsmissionen's homelessness report for 2024, a report that was presented at a seminar here in the Riksdag in January.

In the debate on homelessness, a distinction is usually made between social and structural homelessness. Social homelessness is homelessness arising from various social problems, while structural homelessness is homelessness caused by the fact that the housing market simply does not function. Sara is an example of the latter – she has an income and a social network but is nevertheless without a chance when the housing market in Sweden has failed.

The example of Sara also illustrates something else, namely that structural homelessness eventually creates social problems. Sara is an example of why we, in here, must work for a functioning housing market and why the current situation with ten-year-long housing queues and million prices on apartments and small houses is unsustainable.

Sara is also an example of why a more active social housing policy is needed, both from municipalities and from the state. In Stadsmissionen's homelessness report, it is noted that the municipalities can do much more within existing legislation, but also that a national holistic approach is lacking.

Madam Speaker! Therefore, the government has now, in a first step, sent out three proposals for consultation:

It shall become easier to give priority in the housing queue.

It shall become mandatory to have rental guarantees for families with children.

The municipalities' responsibility for housing provision must be strengthened.

We Moderates are not unfamiliar with taking further steps to strengthen the social housing policy - to strengthen it to reach the groups that truly need it.

Madam Speaker! There is, however, an aspect that one must not forget in this discussion. It is why the example with Sara exists at all. How is it that someone can have a livelihood and be socially established but still lack a home in Sweden?

How is it that the waiting time for a home is up to ten years, sometimes longer, for an apartment in one of our major cities in Sweden? It is not a law of nature that there should be a housing shortage in Sweden. It is a situation that is not found in any other European country, at least not on a scale that corresponds to the Swedish one.

It is completely obvious that the Swedish housing policy has failed. A large part of the problem concerns the utility value system and the so-called negotiated rents. Through the utility value system, rents are not set based on supply and demand, but based on negotiations between representatives for tenants and representatives for property owners according to a previously agreed system with criteria. In theory, it is a fine idea. In practice, it has become a catastrophe.

Madam Speaker! This is not something that only I and the Moderaterna think. To reform the rent-setting rules and achieve a rent-setting that more clearly follows supply and demand has been spoken of by a number of prominent economists and researchers in recent years as one of the most important measures to achieve a better functioning housing market.

Among the examples, Stefan Ingves, former Governor of the Riksbank, can be mentioned, but also Assar Lindbeck, who was a professor of economics at Stockholm University and closely associated with the Socialdemokraterna. Another prominent advocate for a reformed rent setting is Hans Lind, former professor of real estate economics at KTH and municipal politician for Vänsterpartiet in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Current rent regulation simply creates a poor utilization of the existing stock and locks out large groups, who lack resources, from the housing market.

Reforming the rent setting is also requested by the industry. The construction companies highlight it as one of the most important proposals in their report Measures for increased housing construction, which was released in December last year.

Stockholms Handelskammare highlights in the report The Locked Door to the Rental Market from 2022 how second-hand rents have risen sharply due to rent regulation and that the system has thereby created a segregated rental market. They also show how a deregulation would create a more just housing sector.

Even the chairman of Hyresgästföreningen admitted in Dagens industri in 2019, when the Social Democrats agreed to free rent setting in new production in the January agreement, that: "It is clear that there are challenges in the rent-setting system, and that a discussion has arisen about this is not a problem."

Madam Speaker! There has just been a media discussion about the rent setting in new production as a consequence of the collapse in housing construction. However, it is not only in new production that the current rent setting system creates problems. The negotiated rents have slowly eroded the landlords' ability to achieve cost coverage.

In a debate article in Dagens industri from the day before yesterday, Nathalie Brard and Rikard Ljunggren from the industry organization Fastighetsägarna state that rents after arbitration decisions shall be raised by 5.3 and 5.8 percent in Gothenburg and Stockholm respectively - at the same time as cost increases are estimated to be 25-30 percent. The article's authors argue that the collective rent negotiation system has reached a dead end. This is, moreover, a description of reality that is not only expressed by representatives of private property owners.

In one episode of Bopolpodden from March last year, the CEOs of the public housing companies Stångåstaden in Linköping - Fredrik Törnqvist - and Örebrobostäder - Ulf Rohlén - state that the rent setting system must be reformed so that one can cover their costs as a landlord.

In the short term, it may obviously seem to favor the tenants that the rent increases are lower than the underlying cost development. In the long term, it will lead to the rental apartments becoming more and more neglected as landlords, in order to balance the cash flow, hold back on both maintenance and ongoing upkeep. As the saying goes: One lives on house rot. The only ones who in the long run will be enticed to own rental apartments in such a system will be so-called slum landlords.

Madam Speaker! Unfortunately, there seems to be some kind of taboo surrounding the discussion of the current rent-setting system and the direct link between its design and the fact that the Swedish housing market is not functioning. Quite frankly, it is about the direct link between the utility value system and the fact that Sara and her three children cannot find a home.

This is an issue that we in the Riksdag must address. The solution is obviously not a system where landlords can set whatever rents they want - an image that the spin doctors in Hyresgästföreningen and on Sveavägen 68 would like to drum out. On the other hand, we need to discuss how we can deregulate the current rent-setting system, from a regulatory framework that does not work to a regulatory framework that actually does, so that we get rents that cover the costs of both building new rental apartments and sustainably managing existing housing. It is a system where the rents correspond to the households' housing preferences, with a continued strong security of tenure for the tenant and a predictability regarding how the rent will develop over time.

It is only when we dare to have an open and constructive discussion about that question that we can achieve a functioning housing market in Sweden without a large structural homelessness.

Madam Speaker! In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about the reforms that the government is now implementing to strengthen security in the rental housing sector by making it easier to evict seriously criminal individuals – seriously criminal individuals who use the housing to commit crimes or who create insecurity in their surrounding area.

The focus in this discussion has all too often fallen on the perpetrator. Now we shift the focus to the neighbors, who are affected by crime and insecurity. It is the criminal, not the law-abiding neighbor, who should have to move. No one should hold a stairwell, a house, or a neighborhood hostage.

At the beginning of March, a series of explosions and bomb alarms occurred in my hometown Gothenburg, in the district of Frölunda. In a longer report in Göteborgs-Posten, the discussion about the possibility of deporting criminals was raised. I quote from the article what a woman says: "Deport the parents too, says the woman. Values come from the family, and if you cannot raise your children, you must take responsibility for that."

The journalist then describes how a lady with a walker passes by and hears what is being said. The lady stops and shouts: "Why are they allowed to stay?! Why are they allowed to stay?!"

Madam Speaker! I hope that we in this chamber listen to the women in Frölunda.

With this, I move for approval of the committee's proposal for a decision.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Alireza Akhondi (C)

Madam Speaker! I sat in my seat and wondered a bit whether David Josefsson read from the Center Party's party program when he spoke about the rent-setting model and the need for changes. Perhaps the member did or did not. This may be the Moderates' policy. I honestly do not know, given all the turns that have been taken regarding exactly this issue, especially during the last parliamentary term.

I have a short question for David Josefsson, given all the fine words that were uttered from the rostrum and given that we have a common picture of the problem and the consequences of a non-functioning rental pricing model. Can we in this chamber expect that we will soon see a government bill aimed at solving these issues?

We have received a number of signals, among others from the member's colleague Minister Elisabeth Svantesson, that this is an issue that should be prioritized and that this is important. I believe the Minister expressed that she would have liked to see that this bill was already on the Riksdag's table.

I repeat the question: Will we see a government bill in the near future that addresses these questions, which the member spoke passionately about in their contribution?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

David Josefsson (M)

Madam Speaker! I have read the Centre Party's party program. There is a lot that is good in it, especially regarding the rent-setting model. If Member Alireza Akhondi had read the Moderates' party program, he would have known that the Moderates and the Centre Party think exactly the same on this issue. We agree on the problem. I believe we are also quite in agreement on roughly what the solution should be.

I am literate. I am also proficient in mathematics. I know what the majority conditions look like in the chamber. At the moment, there is no majority in the Riksdag in favor of reforming the rent-setting system. It unfortunately does not seem particularly fruitful to submit a bill or actually take any steps in that direction when one knows that the proposal will fall in the chamber.

However, I believe it is important to actually talk about the issues, to have an open and constructive discussion. I appreciate the parties that are clear about what they think but who do not say a sharp no without that the issues can be discussed. I would have wished that, for example, the member from the Socialdemokraterna was not, perhaps for electoral tactical reasons, so clear in saying no without being prepared to discuss the issue across party lines and find a solution. That is not where we are right now.

I am speaking with all parties about the issue and think it is important. I hope that we can reach an agreement. I hope that Centerpartiet is also part of that discussion.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Alireza Akhondi (C)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, David Josefsson!

I still feel that the member is dodging responsibility, given that the member's party holds the government power.

Wanting to talk about an important issue is very good - fantastic. But we noted in a previous debate on housing policy that over 1,714 construction companies went bankrupt last year and that quite a few thousand people have been laid off. In this debate and all other debates, it is pointed out that one thinks an issue is important but does not intend to do anything concrete about it. It is very sad, given how tough the situation is.

In any case, during the previous parliamentary term, there was some acceptance from the Social Democrats that the issue should be resolved. I had hoped that the Riksdag's position would not be tested in a sharp situation. I can only state that it is as it is.

I really hope that David Josefsson's party and the other Tidö parties start rolling up their sleeves and can deliver important propositions that address the problems existing in the Swedish housing market, at least in the short term but also in the long term.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

David Josefsson (M)

Madam Speaker! I am not dodging the issue at all. I am very open and frank regarding the majority conditions in the Riksdag. Parliamentarism is based on having an open discussion and talking between different parties. As long as there is no majority, we will not submit a bill. But we are working to get a bill through. We are, after all, the Moderate Party, and we talk with all parties.

There is a red line for the Social Democrats. They say a clear no. There is no discussion to be had there.

When it comes to the Tidö parties, I want to commend the Sverigedemokraterna for being clear that they do not think this way on the issue but are open to a constructive discussion. Then we will see where that discussion lands.

There is a party in this chamber that, since 2018, has actually built much of its negotiating mandate on the fact that there are certain parties that they do not intend to talk to at any price, even if it would be possible to reach a political agreement on various proposals.

Some parties say no, and other parties say that they do not even talk with that part of the parties. When those parties say that the government is not doing enough, it becomes very difficult to take that type of criticism seriously. If the Centerpartiet had been more constructive and more open to talking with the other seven parties in the Riksdag, I believe we could have gotten very much further in solving a number of societal problems.

I am not dodging the issue, but I must be clear about what the majority conditions look like. I truly hope that we can at some point create a majority to change the rules for rent setting. That is not where we are right now. But if we have an open approach and talk with all parties, I hope that we can get there.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Roger Hedlund (SD)

Madam Speaker! The Sweden Democrats are now, together with the government, implementing major reforms concerning precisely the rental housing issues that we are discussing here in the chamber today.

A large part of the Tidö Agreement deals with exactly this area and aims to once again make Sweden a safe country. When we look out across the country, we can see that, according to the police's report, we have 59 vulnerable areas today. This has increased since 2015, from 53 to 59 vulnerable areas.

Madam Speaker! Things have gone in the wrong direction when it comes to safety in Sweden. According to Brås, the Crime Prevention Council's, national safety survey from 2022, 50 percent of the residents in these vulnerable areas are worried about going out in the evening. This is clearly not acceptable in Swedish society. The Sweden Democrats are working hard today and have for a long time worked with precisely these issues, in order to once again create safety in Sweden, in our vulnerable areas and in the whole Swedish society.

As I began by saying, we are now taking these issues seriously in the Tidö Agreement. Large parts are precisely about reintroducing safety. Stay bans have been introduced, which is already today leading to reports of a major effect for the safety-creating work. Security zones, the old so-called visitation zones, will soon be introduced and enable the re-creation of further safety in our residential areas.

BID cooperation is being investigated today. Together with efficient and transparent area planning, it can create the conditions for our residential areas to be secured. It makes it possible for blue-light personnel to act safely, to be able to be on site again without feeling the insecurity that exists in Swedish society today. That they should have to bring a police escort when they visit vulnerable areas is not okay.

A national action plan is needed to once again secure our residential areas. The issue of safety needs to be a natural part of the urban development process. In new production, a natural part of the discussion shall be how we create safe residential areas.

Madam Speaker! We have a proposal regarding the possibility of terminating lease agreements in the event of crimes in the vicinity of the residential area. It is an important issue and an investigation that we will soon submit to the Riksdag. It enables us to truly do something about the insecurity in society. It is not the intention that someone who is a criminal should feel secure in keeping their housing, continuing to operate in their local area and creating insecurity for our citizens. This measure and its effect on Swedish society will be very interesting to follow when the bill is tabled.

There are also proposals here that give property owners the opportunity to act against so-called mattress apartments. They enable the Swedish shadow society that we have seen spreading. When the proposal comes to the table, Madam Speaker, it means that we can finally take measures so that property owners can use the law to actually counteract these mattress apartments. The shadow society is a large part of the reason why we have an insecure society today.

Madam Speaker! The Sweden Democrats believe that we need to go further regarding the possibilities to also terminate local rental agreements. We need legislation that is far-reaching. We shall not look at the problems here and now, but at how the development in the organized crime area can look ahead, so that we have the tools needed to be able to powerfully address the problem.

We must not be naive as the Social Democratic government has been for very many years. The possibility must exist to terminate local rental agreements when there is known criminality among those who have these rental agreements. We need to go even further than what the bill stipulates today. That, Madam Speaker, is also the reason why the Sweden Democrats demand approval of reservation 3 in this chamber debate.

Together with a new migration policy that the government is putting forward now, we can, with all these measures, create security in Swedish society, which largely is built on what we are discussing today, namely all these people who live in rental housing.

Housing construction is also an important part of addressing the problems I have just spoken about. Everyone needs access to a home. It is an important part of creating the conditions for people to get work and enter adulthood.

Today we are working together with the government on measures to curb inflation. Inflation is a major problem, as are the high interest rates, construction costs, and household finances. Today, household finances are depleted for many Swedish citizens. It is, of course, a major issue in the Swedish housing market. Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has also not made the situation better in Sweden.

What we need to do is to continue in accordance with how the government and the Sweden Democrats are currently working with inflation-dampening measures. We need to simplify the building regulations, shorten the lead times, and utilize the existing stock better. Extensive investigations are being presented today from the government together with the Sweden Democrats to achieve a long-term functioning housing policy. These are far-reaching proposals to rebuild security in Sweden and create conditions for all citizens to obtain a home.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Larry Söder (KD)

Madam Speaker! The member and my party are working together to reduce red tape in connection with the construction of housing. The planning processes must go faster. There must be both planned and buildable land. Standardized rules shall ensure that industrial construction truly breaks through in Sweden. I am very pleased with that cooperation and that we can discuss the various issues that exist.

There is, however, a question that ranks quite high on the agenda both in the media and politically that we perhaps do not quite agree on, and it concerns free rent setting in new production. I believe that the key to somehow getting rental apartments built in Sweden is that property owners actually want to own rental apartments. It must be possible to conduct a good business even with rental apartments without, for example, needing to convert them into condominiums.

I would like to politely ask the Sweden Democrats what things you see as major problems with introducing free rent setting in new production. I believe that it can be a piece of the puzzle - not the whole puzzle - that makes us get more rental housing in Sweden.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Roger Hedlund (SD)

Madam Speaker! This question has been on the agenda for a very long time. The irony in the situation is that the Sweden Democrats have been accused of wanting to implement market rents. But I would say that the Sweden Democrats are one of the biggest opponents.

What the housing market needs today is an opportunity for people to demand the housing that is being built. It is not actually about us building many homes, because there is no point in building homes if no one can demand them.

Madam Speaker! I do not believe that a free market rent enables more people to demand a home. We can take our neighboring country Finland as an example. There are homes available there, but no one can afford to rent the homes that are on the market. I fear that this will be the actual result of introducing free market rents.

The system we have today enables reasonable rents. "Reasonable" is perhaps the wrong word, but they at least enable the parties in the housing market to maintain a level that allows people to demand a home. We see, after all, in today's Sweden with presumption rents that the newly produced apartments coming onto the market have extremely high rents. I do not understand in what way a change of that system would benefit those who today stand outside the housing market. How are they to afford to demand anything if we introduce free market rents on new production?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Larry Söder (KD)

Madam Speaker! I agree with the Sweden Democrats that it is obviously the case that people must be able to demand a home, but I believe that the social part of the housing market must be solved in a different way than through free rent setting. We must ensure that there is a general housing market where people can apply for homes and perhaps the housing allowance must be broadened and increased so that they have the opportunity to pay the rents.

I agree with Roger Hedlund that the newly produced housing is quite expensive, but it is not the intention that all people should seek out the new rental apartments. It is probably actually those who have a bit more pay or more money who are supposed to demand the completely new apartments. Then, other, cheaper apartments will become available to other people who need them.

I believe that we must somehow realize that one does not develop a property if one cannot make money from it. If one wants to build rental apartments today, one does so reluctantly and sells or converts them as soon as one has the opportunity.

I want a rental housing market with property owners who want to improve rental apartments and take care of tenants, and I believe the key to that is free rent setting in new production so that people feel secure and the economy works out. But I do not believe that is the only solution. I believe there are several. But many of the fears Roger Hedlund has, I believe one can solve with such a concept. I do not believe we should release the rent setting in new production if we do not solve the social housing part at the same time. They can go hand in hand. I believe the fears are a bit greater in Roger Hedlund than they are in me and that we can meet in the middle.

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Roger Hedlund (SD)

Madam Speaker! The idea that those who can possibly afford more expensive housing should have access to housing is what lies behind the system of presumptive rents. It enables those who build properties to initially set a rent that corresponds to something that has similarities with a market rent. We stand behind that system, as do several others who are skeptical of market rents as a whole.

The problem if we were to introduce market rents and not just presumption rents is that the free rent setting that presumption rents enable will not disappear when the housing that is built becomes older, but they will remain in the system as housing with free market rent. This means that the only ones who benefit are the property owners when situations like the one we have in Sweden today with a high housing shortage arise. They can then set the rents themselves based on the fact that there is a large housing shortage in the country.

One of several reasons why we should not have market rents is that they mean we will dismantle the system moving forward. The only ones who will ultimately be able to profit from this when there is a housing shortage in Sweden are the property owners. Had we introduced market rents much earlier in accordance with the Kristdemokraterna's will, the property owners would have had very good conditions to make good profits. I do not believe that is the way forward to create more housing in Sweden.

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Alireza Akhondi (C)

Madam Speaker! I begin with an observation. I am quite surprised to see a debate between two of the government's supporting parties. Either the honeymoon is over or one must accept that we are approaching the EU election campaign.

The Swedish housing market has serious systemic flaws that will not be solved by themselves. Nor will they be solved as long as politics does not have the courage to address the whole.

Here I want to pause a bit and focus on the children's perspective in the issue. We know that approximately 1,800 children are in an acute homelessness situation right now. That is an alarming figure. It is also the case that over 9,400 children have at least one parent who is in a homelessness situation. Take in that figure! If anyone thinks that this does not affect both their mental health and their schooling, I become extremely concerned. Socialstyrelsens report for 2024 showed that 27,383 people over 18 years old were homeless, of which 4,400 were acute.

It is against that background that I and the Center Party have been active in trying to persuade the government to start taking its responsibility and delivering propositions to the Riksdag that target the problems that have existed for very many years. My committee colleague Larry Söder has, in a number of speeches, wisely pointed out that the problems did not begin with the change of government in 2022. My colleague is completely right in that. But one must also accept that this government has soon sat for four terms. What has been announced that will be placed on the Riksdag's table is a proposition that risks making even more children homeless, perhaps due to the sins of the siblings or one of the parents.

We can also observe that the result of the political reluctance to act has created the segregation and the social problems whose consequences can be read about in the media almost daily. All of us who work with these issues know that the problems are many and complex, but that all the different stakeholders in the housing market unfortunately only see their own piece of the puzzle in all of this. It is something that I deeply regret.

Madam Speaker! There is a great deal of research that should be taken seriously when we discuss housing policy in general and the rental market in particular. The SNS report that came out a few years ago is just one contribution to the debate. But there it is stated clearly and distinctly that rent regulation is the cause of the long housing queues, of the illicit trade with rental contracts, and of the fact that very many rental apartments are converted into condominiums. I believe it was colleague Larry Söder who, in some exchange of remarks, pointed out that the number of rental apartments in the Stockholm region has not changed for many years. This is something that must be taken into account when working with these issues.

One reason why I find this particular study interesting is that the researchers, with the help of statistics on Stockholm's housing queue and the number of newly produced homes, clarify that there is no clear connection between the length of the housing queues and housing construction. They also show, with the help of data from the housing agency, that rent regulation is a poor means of helping the housing market's weak actors, i.e., households with low incomes – an aspect that has been raised in the debate several times. It is concerning when one does not take into account what the research says about these issues.

We also know that our taxation model disadvantages rental housing as a form of housing. It is a trend that has persisted not only during the last parliamentary term but rather over three decades. The rhetoric of politics also creates an image that one is a failure if one does not own their home – this Sverigedemokratiska Sverigehuset is talked about in all debates. It also creates a stigmatization which is admittedly invisible but nevertheless leaves painful scars for many.

As a liberal member of the Centre Party, I naturally want to see competition neutrality between different forms of housing. Due to the interest rate increases, the differences have now been corrected, but for very many years it was the case that I, as a resident of Danderyd, practically received payment for having a roof over my head while very many others had to pay a large part of their disposable income to satisfy the same need. We cannot have such a situation.

We in the Center Party have quite a few proposals on these issues. One of them is a reforming of the entire principle of use value as such. I am pleased that my Moderate colleague raised that need in his speech. But we also see that a reforming of the entire tax system needs to be done, also a policy area that in all material respects affects the functioning of the housing market. Interest deductions, capital gains taxation, and other taxation tools must be synchronized, so that we create fair models for different forms of housing. For example, the VAT issue is something that should be looked at in particular. What is encouraging is that these problems are actually solvable if we just decide to do so.

I would like to take the opportunity to highlight another issue that also significantly affects the availability of housing. It is all the houses that stand vacant all around in our long country. It is an example of poor utilization of the existing housing stock.

In order to lower the thresholds for people to take on this type of house and in this way contribute to more housing being put into use in Sweden's rural areas, we want to investigate a removal of the property fee for the first five years for those who as permanent residents take over a building that has not been used for a long time.

In conclusion, I naturally want to say something about free rent setting in new production. As the Speaker surely knows, an inquiry into free rent setting in new production was commissioned in the spring of 2020. The increased supply resulting from free rent setting would, particularly now under current circumstances, have consequences leading to more and more housing being completed and fewer people having to wait to receive a rental contract.

Another heavily weighted reason for just this reform is that the incentives for black market trading of rental contracts need to decrease. My Sweden Democrat colleague mentioned Finland as some kind of cautionary example. I advocate for a study trip for the Sweden Democrats.

The Finnish model is in many ways an example for us in Sweden where there are available housing for those who want it. It is also a way to both counter black contracts and ensure that one as a young person can move out from home. It is important.

I have exceeded my speaking time by a few seconds. I thank you for the floor.

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Katarina Luhr (MP)

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating the right of tenancy. If one were to wind down in this debate, it might be a bit difficult to really know what we are talking about. But it is, therefore, the right of tenancy we are talking about.

Housing is central for most. Without a home and a fixed point, it is difficult for the vast majority to make the rest of life function. Miljöpartiet's housing policy is therefore aimed at ensuring that everyone can live well in a way that suits them in every part of life. It is from moving out of the family home to one's first own home, through studies, temporary jobs, and starting a family, up to the place where one wants to live in the final stage of life.

To create safe and pleasant areas and reduce residential segregation, we want mixed construction with the possibility of moving between different housing forms through life's various phases without leaving the area where one wants to live or by moving to the area where one wants to live. But to achieve that vision, it is an enormous way to go today.

In order to be able to live in the way one desires, the rental housing will continue to be an incredibly important piece in the large housing puzzle. Today, there are problems with this housing puzzle when the existing housing supply better needs to correspond to the population's needs.

Today, it feels as if the rental apartment has a low priority in the government's work with housing. There is a very large focus on favoring ownership. But sometimes there is also a focus on measures to facilitate evictions from rental apartments. At the same time, there are very many people who neither want nor can own their own housing. Being able to live in a rental apartment reduces crime and the shadow society, and not the other way around. I think that is something we should remember.

Today, it is difficult to build at a sufficiently high pace and to build at prices that people can afford to pay. It is something we have talked about. That means that the high rents for newly built rental apartments do not always lead to new construction solving the major problems with the housing shortage that we see in so many municipalities.

The existing stock of housing could also be utilized more efficiently by making it easier for people to move to a home that suits them specifically. When it comes to rental apartments, there are measures that could facilitate more people getting the opportunity to obtain a secure home.

Different supports or incentives for the construction of more rental apartments and support for, for example, cooperative rental apartments are something we have already debated several times in previous reports. But there are also other ways to facilitate for those who want to live in a rental apartment.

Miljöpartiet wants, for example, it to become easier to enable more types of rental contracts. This applies, for example, to friend contracts where several people can share a contract and use their combined incomes to share the rent. The question of shared apartments that Vänsterpartiet highlights in the report is also interesting.

We also think that new rules are needed for what income requirements a landlord can set for a tenant. The income requirements today are so high that they are unattainable for an average median earner. Setting clear frameworks for which income requirements can be set for a rental contract is an issue that could make a big difference for many. Even the state rental guarantees will make a difference if the government submits a bill on this in the future.

Madam Speaker! In order to better provide people with the opportunity to live as they would like, we would also, of course, want to facilitate moving chains so that it does not depend on finances or bureaucratic hurdles for one to, for example, be able to move to something smaller when the need arises.

Today we have an aging population that largely consists of a large group of relatively active and healthy 40-somethings who will continue to place high demands on their housing situation. But even for those who may not be as active and healthy, we need to plan good living environments.

It is an important task for society to provide elderly people with the conditions to continue living their lives as they wish to as much as possible. Loneliness among the elderly is a major problem. Moving into a communal housing unit can also provide a better quality of life and new energy with new contacts and activities.

New forms of housing, such as collective housing of various types, are something that more and more elderly people are requesting today. For Miljöpartiet, it is important to make it possible for people to be able to stay in their own homes as long as they want. But one should also be able to move when one wants or needs to.

Here, the economy can pose various obstacles. The problem may not only be that it becomes more expensive to live in a rental apartment than in an owned and paid-off villa. One can, for example, be denied a rental contract because the pension is not considered sufficient, even in some cases where one has savings that one could utilize. This is an issue that should be regulated more clearly, just like all other high income requirements when one wants a rental apartment.

Moving to a special housing facility can also cost a lot. According to the Social Services Act, the municipalities have a responsibility to establish special housing forms for service and care for elderly people who need special support such as service and care. This type of housing is often designed as a private apartment or a room with access to common areas. One can have a dining room, living room, garden, and outdoor patio.

The rental costs in the special housing units are often palpably high. Since the special housing units are designed for people with greater needs for service and support, few have the energy to drive a process in the Rent Tribunal regarding the reasonableness of the rent. Therefore, we believe that the government should review the possibility of designing a system for reasonable rents for special housing units.

Miljöpartiet believes that the rental apartment is one of the forms of housing that forms the basis for everyone to have opportunities for a good home. I believe that there are several measures that would make it easier for more people to have opportunities to live securely and in the long term.

I naturally stand behind all of the Miljöpartiet's proposals in the area but wish today to move for approval of Miljöpartiet's reservation number 1 in the report.

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Larry Söder (KD)

Madam Speaker! The number of people in the Stockholm housing queue recently exceeded 800,000. Last year, the average waiting time was almost ten years. The person who joins the housing queue today will never get the chance to move into Stockholm's inner city. There, the waiting times are around 40 years. We can unfortunately observe that it is almost just as bad in Gothenburg and Malmö.

We can also observe that the reform of the rent-setting system that was made in 2011 has not functioned as well as we had hoped. The attraction of owning a rental property is significantly reduced. Many property owners sell for conversion to condominiums. In new production, when the choice stands between different forms of tenure, the developers prefer another form.

The housing shortage in general and the shortage of rental apartments in particular means that people are forced to turn down study places and jobs. The housing shortage also hampers companies' ability to grow in the locations they desire. The preferences that normally drive demand for housing and create mobility are not reflected in the rent setting, which in reality reduces the availability of rental housing.

Free rent setting in new production could, in the long term, counteract the existing deficiencies, promote the construction of more rental apartments, and strengthen the housing form's role as the primary housing. A prerequisite for free rent setting in new production is that the security of tenure is strong and that the indexation of the rent is predictable over time for the tenant. I wish for the government to return to the Riksdag with the necessary legislative changes to introduce free rent setting in new production.

Free rent setting in new production should, in my opinion, be followed by a gradual adjustment of rent levels within the utility value system towards market values.

There is a large group of people with weak ability to pay who today have great difficulties establishing themselves on the housing market. People who have credit remarks or lack roots in the labor market today have very great difficulty obtaining a first-hand contract. This group needs special attention if such a change is made.

I therefore want to test the possibility that a larger proportion of the housing in a new production is set aside for social purposes and that the housing allowance is adapted to today's situation. A very small group is affected by the housing allowance today, and the allowance needs to be reformed in order to truly be able to support those who have low incomes and high rents.

The Christian Democrats' proposal for free rent setting in new production presupposes that the security of tenure is strong and that the indexation of the rent is predictable over time. This also requires public rental statistics that provide the parties, not least the tenants, with knowledge of what is a reasonable rent level, which prevents the risk of extortionate rents.

I mean that it is about making the market a market again - letting the younger people be able to buy their home, letting families be able to build housing careers, and ultimately also letting the retiree be able to sell their large home to move back to a rental apartment.

The shortage of rental apartments creates problems in the housing market. I believe that we must take this to heart and try to do something sensible about it, all parties together.

With this, I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

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Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Madam Speaker! Yesterday I read in Dagens Nyheter about the mother of two, Laila, who moved back in with her mother with her teenage daughters. As a single parent, she struggled to manage the extra rent increase, despite having both a full-time job and a side job.

That is how it looks for very many in today's Sweden. In addition to rent increases, we have seen unreasonably high prices on food and electricity. More and more families with children are being evicted.

Around 3 million inhabitants live in a rental apartment. The vast majority are content with it and do not want to change anything. Quite many, however, have today a rent that is rising, while wage development stands still. All too many property owners do not manage the maintenance. There are also property owners who perform luxury renovations in order to be able to raise rents and evict people.

For those who rent in the second hand, the situation is more vulnerable. Problems with unreasonable rents and even harassment can arise, one can read about.

The right to a home is a fundamental human right, and the position of tenants must be strong. Vänsterpartiet sees today a great need for more housing to be built - especially for people who have little or no capital, so that they too can demand a good home.

Homelessness no longer only concerns people with social or other problems. Instead, there is a structural homelessness that is growing, seemingly completely out of control. Simply put, it is about the fact that people who lack the capital to buy a home also cannot get a rental apartment in the current situation because too little is being built. Furthermore, an extremely large number of rental apartments have been converted into condominiums in recent decades, which previous speakers have also spoken about.

It is largely the older, cheaper rental apartments that have disappeared for all time. Unfortunately, it is not possible to build such ones today, regardless of how great the political will is.

Madam Speaker! The housing market is in a rather gloomy situation, especially for low-income households.

Vänsterpartiet has many proposals on how we can build more housing. Since I only have four minutes, I do not have time to talk about all those proposals, but I choose to highlight a motion that is addressed in the report during the short speaking time I have left. It concerns the cooperative rental housing.

All over the country, initiatives are being taken to create new, less traditional forms of housing. This can involve both new and old-new ideas coming to life. We see that there are several cases where the regulatory framework needs to be modernized so that this development does not stagnate.

Cooperative rental housing is such a form. It has existed as a statutory form of tenure since 2002, but it has progressed very slowly. The idea is that it should be a speculation-free form of tenure somewhere between the traditional rental housing and the condominium. It provides greater elements of housing democracy and self-management than the ordinary rental housing, and we think that this is something that opens up housing for more people.

But despite the fact that the form of tenure has existed for about 20 years, it has not achieved such great success. Therefore, we have some proposals in this report.

We want, for example, it to become easier for residents in the municipalities' public housing companies to acquire their houses for conversion to cooperative rental housing if a sale is feasible.

We want it to be possible to have a cooperative housing association in a dormant state, in the same way as housing cooperatives.

We mean that other financing conditions are needed than those that exist today, where the borrowing opportunities differ depending on what type of housing one can request.

We also think that a national coordinator is needed to increase knowledge of and the opportunity for people to form this type of association and also to increase the housing form moving forward.

I move for the approval of my reservation number 5, which concerns exactly these matters.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 21 March.)

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