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Renting an apartment in Stockholm requires being on a waiting list for years, or paying private landlords under the table in order to be allowed to rent. I hear

by 2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago

Renting an apartment in Stockholm requires being on a waiting list for years, or paying private landlords under the table in order to be allowed to rent. I hear it's not as bad in Gothenburg and Malmö, though. Buying is still possible, but the prices are extremely inflated due to the Swedish habit of simply not paying of their mortages and just pay the interest. Last time I heard, the Stockholm housing bubble is about to burst due to the increasing interest rates, potentially collapsing the Swedish housing market. The Finnish housing market is cooler, but finding an apartment in the Helsinki or Turku areas is not easy, and they don't come cheap. Just like in the case of Stockholm, people with below-average income are more or less kept out of the city cores. From what I've been told, it sounds like the situation in Denmark and Norway is similar.

Jolter 4y ago
These things are also true. It is very very hard to find a rental flat in Stockholm. Slightly easier in Gothenburg, and easier still, the smaller and less attractive the town you choose. Some claim this shortage is due to over-regulation of the housing market, others claim that it's due to other causes. Usually, this is split down ideological lines, where the left is for keeping the regulated rents, and the right are for introducing "market based rents". But this is all irrelevant, because despite this well-documented housing shortage in Stockholm, and despite having a rent-controlled market and a huge presumed housing bubble, for some reason Sweden ranks as having only 4.1% basement dwellers (see OP). So, explain again how this article on "Basement Fertility" is making a case for housing market deregulation?
- 2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
  The Nordic countries have massive housing projects from the 50's-70's and as you mention, it's relatively easy to get a non-attractive apartment -- or even a house. It's an urban issue, and assuming ones's ready to move somewhere else then moving out is not a problem. That's what happens in many cases.

Jolter 4y ago

These things are also true. It is very very hard to find a rental flat in Stockholm. Slightly easier in Gothenburg, and easier still, the smaller and less attractive the town you choose. Some claim this shortage is due to over-regulation of the housing market, others claim that it's due to other causes. Usually, this is split down ideological lines, where the left is for keeping the regulated rents, and the right are for introducing "market based rents". But this is all irrelevant, because despite this well-documented housing shortage in Stockholm, and despite having a rent-controlled market and a huge presumed housing bubble, for some reason Sweden ranks as having only 4.1% basement dwellers (see OP). So, explain again how this article on "Basement Fertility" is making a case for housing market deregulation?

2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
The Nordic countries have massive housing projects from the 50's-70's and as you mention, it's relatively easy to get a non-attractive apartment -- or even a house. It's an urban issue, and assuming ones's ready to move somewhere else then moving out is not a problem. That's what happens in many cases.