Response to interpellation 2022/23:324 on a commission for the Swedish housing and real estate market
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the need for a parliamentary inquiry into the Swedish housing and real estate market. KD argues that the government does not need to appoint an inquiry because they have a majority and are already working on addressing structural problems 1 2 3 4. KD emphasizes that they have signaled reforms to increase buildable land and simplify regulations 1 4. KD argues that the productivity commission should analyze the need for reforms 1 and that the housing market should be seen as part of productivity growth 4. C argues that the government has not presented sufficient proposals and that an inquiry is needed to address issues such as free rent setting and the tax system 5 6 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Alireza Akhondi has asked me if I am prepared to act, for example by appointing a parliamentary commission of inquiry, to address all parts that need to be regulated to tackle the structural problems in the housing and real estate market. Alireza Akhondi has also asked me if I am prepared, within my area of responsibility, to also look at tax effects, as the design of taxes affects both mobility and the creation of new housing areas.
As Alireza Akhondi writes in his interpellation, we must indeed tackle the structural problems in the housing market. The Government, however, sees no need to appoint a parliamentary commission of inquiry. The coalition parties that make up the government base have a majority in the Swedish Riksdag, and my perception is furthermore that there is primarily agreement regarding which structural obstacles characterize the Swedish construction and housing market.
The government is already working on addressing the structural problems in the housing market. Reforms shall be developed to increase the availability of buildable land, the rules for construction shall be simplified significantly, and municipalities are urged and encouraged to increase their planning readiness, especially regarding small houses. Such structural reforms have been announced in the budget bill for 2023 so that the Swedish construction and housing market is better equipped when the economy eventually turns upward.
The entire Swedish economy has had a weak productivity development ever since the financial crisis in 2008. This is characteristic of the entire business sector, not least the construction sector. If this development continues, it will negatively affect Swedish real wages and our competitiveness. To reverse the trend, it is therefore important that we implement reforms that increase Swedish productivity. We need to investigate what structural problems exist and how we can address them.
The government therefore decided on 20 April to appoint a commission to map out obstacles and opportunities to once again strengthen productivity in the entire economy, both in the business sector and the public sector. Within the scope of its mandate, the commission may submit all types of proposals, including those that affect both the state's income and its expenditures. A well-functioning and flexible housing market is a prerequisite for a well-functioning labor market, as people should be able to easily move to take a new job or begin studies. The Productivity Commission shall, among other things, analyze the need for reforms in the housing market to increase productivity growth in the business sector.
Regarding measures in the tax area of importance for the housing market, a memorandum was referred on 28 April with proposals for an increased standard deduction for the rental of private residential properties, private homes, and rental apartments. Private individuals' leasing of their own homes constitutes a significant complement to the regular housing market. It is therefore important with a well-functioning market for private rental. An increased standard deduction for the leasing of one's own home constitutes a financial incentive that can lead to more private individuals choosing to rent out the whole or parts of the home. This enables an efficient utilization of the housing stock.
Alireza Akhondi (C)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. But as usual when we have interpellation debates - it is not the first time - there is quite a lot of non-answers from the Minister's side. Now the government has been in power for almost seven months, and despite being informed here in the chamber that they have a majority, the proposals shine with their absence.
I have reminded the Minister that over 60 public inquiries regarding the housing market have been conducted since 2006. Virtually every millimeter of the Swedish housing market is fully investigated. For those of you listening who do not know what this means, I can say that once the preparation requirement is met, it actually goes quite quickly to return to the Riksdag with proposals on the structural changes that one says they want to implement.
It is somewhat unfortunate that the Minister in the debate focuses on the general productivity development. A few days ago, we saw what many of us believe is the beginning of what is to come on the real estate market. In that regard, I am speaking specifically about SBB. We have actually, to use such an expression, succeeded in building in a systemic instability that will be able to affect not only the Swedish housing market but the entire Swedish economy. During this development, the Minister speaks about real wages and other things that are actually non-issues in this context.
There are approximately 300,000 planned plots in Sweden today. They may not necessarily be in all the places where one wants to build, but buildable land is not what is problematic here and now. What is problematic is that it will be trickling forward into the construction companies' order books towards the summer. After that, we will see a fairly large wave of bankruptcies, but also a warning wave.
When I was at a seminar, a networking meeting, with Attefall, an old party colleague of the Minister, the signal from the construction sector was crystal clear: The government must do something. But when I look at the list of government bills, I wonder: Where are the proposals, Minister? Nothing is happening.
When we talk about structural changes, we are not talking about minor flat-rate deduction increases that are supposed to make people get a few more kronor when they rent out their homes, but we are talking about lock-in effects and people's opportunities to finance their housing. The solution is not for you to blow up the ship that is in a bad position and then build a "Sweden house," whatever that means.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! It was not a non-answer that I gave to the member. The member asked two questions in his interpellation. In the first question, two questions are embedded. I can repeat: "Is the Minister prepared to act" - the answer is yes - "for example by appointing a parliamentary commission" - the answer is no. Alireza Akhondi also describes very well why. There are many ready-made proposals. There are preparatory documents. As I said in my interpellation answer, there is also, in principle, a consensus.
Now it is about working at a high tempo. There is a backlog of reform needs, not least because there were revolving doors to the position of Minister for Housing during the previous government, which the Center Party supported. It is clear that we would have been in a better position if one had continued at the pace that prevailed when the Christian Democrats held the position of Minister for Housing last time. Now we resume the work, and we have started with a bang. We do not see a need for a parliamentary inquiry because we have a majority in the Riksdag for the proposals that will come.
"Is the government prepared to also look at tax effects within its area of responsibility" was the last question in the interpellation. The answer is yes. I mentioned the Productivity Commission. Furthermore, on April 13, the government decided to task a committee with analyzing how borrower-based macroprudential measures, such as mortgage caps and amortization requirements, have functioned so far and how they can be designed in a purposeful way. This is underway. I can also inform the member that in 50 minutes I will hold a press conference where I will present another step in that direction.
We are working at a high pace. Reforms will come; we have indicated in which areas. It is about addressing the structural obstacles that exist for a functioning construction and housing market. I perceive that there is primarily a consensus on that.
Alireza Akhondi (C)
Madam Speaker! The government and the Riksdag steer social development with two main tools. One is legislative proposals, and the other is taxes.
During the seven months that this government has been in power, proposals that steer development from the government's side have been conspicuously absent. Neither in the budget nor in the bills have we been able to participate in influencing the development in this chamber.
The Minister says that work is being done at a high pace. I would have understood that, given the processes in the Government Offices, if there hadn't been fully completed proposals. Now there are, and that means one can expect to see the result of the hard work that the government says it is doing here in the chamber so that we get legislative proposals to take a position on.
When I highlight the need for a parliamentary inquiry, the Minister knows very well that there are questions. The construction market or the real estate sector benefits from long-term planning so that one knows what the conditions are. But these are such long processes, and it is not enough to simply claim that one has a majority when we need to address issues such as free rent setting in new production.
We know that the design of the tax system - then I am thinking of property tax, interest deductions and capital gains tax, that is, the whole - affects mobility on the Swedish housing market. That type of questions cannot be taken with a few mandates' overweight in the chamber, but these questions actually deserve a parliamentary lion's share so that we know that the decisions hold over time.
We do not want a situation like the one where, with a stroke of a pen, the government's commitments regarding the main lines are scrapped and the municipalities are left with the bill, as the new government has done – nor does it apply when it comes to the investment support, which I, admittedly, am not particularly fond of. But with a stroke of a pen, one cheats real estate companies out of 16 billion kronor; this is not how one works long-term or sustainably. Construction processes are long. They take eight or nine years, and one cannot have these sudden shifts. That is not me saying it, it is the real estate sector saying it.
The Minister also does not address the systemic instability that the Riksbank has been involved in building up by purchasing masses of real estate bonds. Now that they are to be redeemed, we are talking about 20, 30, 40 percent increases in costs for the real estate companies.
How many real estate companies is the government prepared to sacrifice with all the risks that this entails for increased unemployment and a crash in the Swedish economy before the government is willing to act powerfully and for real? I know that you work hard, Andreas, or I know that the government works hard. But we really need to settle these issues once and for all.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! In the latter, we agree – we will need to deal with these problems. That is why we are focusing on working with the structural barriers that exist in the housing market.
I am very pleased with Alireza Akhondis' trust and confidence in the government's ability to implement more reforms in half a year than the previous government could do in eight years. It is not really that simple, but we are working on it. I understand that the member confirms that we are working hard given what he says, and I look forward to returning at a high tempo. Already in 45 minutes, I will take a step and present news that I believe will please many, not least those who find it difficult to enter the housing market today.
The question is what a parliamentary inquiry in this situation would do to increase the pace of what we are already in principle in agreement on, as Alireza Akhondi has described. I am happy to engage in much dialogue with the Center Party and other parties in the Swedish Riksdag. I also meet very many in the industry, those developers and house producers who are having a tough time right now, and I hear from them which measures they see as necessary to mitigate the effects here and now, but above all to build away the structural obstacles that exist to achieve a better functioning housing market.
That I answer no to the question of appointing a parliamentary commission is therefore not about me being against dialogue. It is the opposite, and Alireza Akhondi knows that. On the other hand, we must maintain a high pace and implement the changes that are required. I would welcome as much support as possible for this in the Swedish Riksdag, and I gladly welcome a good dialogue so that we can achieve it. But we have a majority. We can present proposals and base them on when we make wise decisions to obtain a better functioning construction and housing market, and that is what we will do.
Alireza Akhondi (C)
Madam Speaker! The purpose of a parliamentary inquiry is that one should be given the opportunity to change one's positions in an orderly manner.
To change the Swedish housing market, one also needs to do very many things simultaneously, and if we present proposals one by one, the Minister knows that it easily leads to deadlocks. But if one takes this as a whole, where there is giving and taking, one also has the conditions to compromise.
When I speak with the actors in the Swedish real estate and housing market, I hear that there is a genuine will to be constructive and solve the long-term structural issues. But those are not solved by putting forward proposals to the Riksdag - which I have not seen yet - on making cosmetic changes to something that needs to be built up from the ground up.
That is why I believe it is a strategically wise choice to take this as a whole where everyone is involved and compromises. We are talking about free rent setting in new production and perhaps reforming the rent-setting model. We are talking about the design of the tax systems. There are many different parts that need to be addressed – simplification of rules and so on.
That is the charm of us appointing parliamentary inquiries in this chamber. We ensure that we find a whole that most can live with. That is my tip to the Minister.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I do not doubt Alireza Akhondis ambitions or the intentions behind the proposal. But what is needed now is not compromise – now implementation is required. That is why the government is working at a high pace, in a constructive spirit, and is listening to proposals for measures.
But we have also presented the areas where reforms are to be developed during the mandate period. We did that already in our first budget just weeks after we took office, which has meant that we can work at a high pace and will return.
There is not, as the member points out, a single solution to the problem, but rather it is about a pattern within many parts of the policy. The situation on the housing market also has a major effect on the macroeconomy, and it is therefore important to see this as a part of our productivity growth.
The commission that has been appointed shall, within the scope of its mandate, look at how we can have a purposeful macro-supervision and at amortization requirements and mortgage caps. We are therefore already underway. Experts are leading this work in committees, and they will submit proposals to the government which we can handle so that we can return to the Riksdag in good parliamentary order and make decisions.
This lays the foundation and is a prerequisite for being able to make decisions that have a long-term impact. For this, dialogue is important, absolutely, and I am happy to have that with the civil committee and Alireza Akhondi. I look forward to continued such dialogue ahead, as we present proposals for reforms and measures that quickly and successively ensure that we get a better functioning housing market in the very tough economic situation we have now, where many very serious and worrying reports and forecasts are arriving. All the more reason to work hard, and that is what we do.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.