housing developments in european countries - Department of ...

Section 2
Context
Context Section 2
2.27 Sweden
18 and 29 years. The level of allowance is dependent
on the income of the individuals in the households, the
related to rising economic growth which had created
housing shortages in some key expanding regions. In
an alternative to both renting and owning a dwelling.
Under this system, once a household gains membership
housing costs and the number of children.
1998 the Vice-Minister of Finance became acting
of a housing co-operative, it makes a down-payment
2.27.1 Policy Making and
Implementation
The period since 1990 has been marked by rapid and
radical change in Swedish housing policy, however. The
Minister of Housing. A number of State commissions
on different housing questions were also appointed
during the following years. From the year 2000 a
for the right to occupy a certain flat/dwelling that the
co-operative owns, together with an ongoing monthly
fee to cover the association’s running costs. The level
Since World War II housing policy has been afforded
key priority by successive Swedish governments and
has played a significant role within the general social
welfare policy (in relation to the standard of housing),
within economic policy (it has been employed as a
motor for growth and housing output has been
prioritised where labour-power is needed), and as part
of labour market policies (in relation to the
employment situation of the construction workers).
Housing policy in Sweden has traditionally been
universalist in orientation. The aim has been to provide
good housing for all the population, rather than to
target specific groups. The rationale for this approach
is that improving the housing conditions of all will also
improve the housing conditions of the least well-off.
traditionally high political priority afforded to housing
was reduced and since 1991 the country has not had a
designated Ministry of Housing. In addition, housing
policy increasingly emphasised the reduction of
subsidies, the deregulation of planning and housing
allocation and greater reliance on market forces.
During this time, the level of the subsidies for new
housing output was significantly reduced, on the
grounds of their high cost in view of the national
budget deficit and also because housing standards were
already very high and there was over-supply of
housing. Owner-occupiers no longer enjoy any interest
subsidies, although they can still avail of tax subsidies.
Interest subsidies for the other tenures are, at least
theoretically speaking, set at a level necessary to
equalise the effects of the tax subsidies for the owner-
number of time-limited subsidies was introduced in
order to stimulate the construction of affordable rental
dwellings in regions where there is a shortage of
housing. Subsidies were also introduced to stimulate
construction of housing for students. These new
subsidies are one-off in nature and are granted in
addition to the general interest subsidies directed
towards all rental dwellings.
In relation to the framing and implementation of
housing policy, housing legislation and financing
conditions are central government responsibilities.
However, local government also has considerable
powers in this field. The Swedish Constitution affords
the municipalities significant independence from
central government and to a large degree they are
of the initial down-payment is determined with
reference to the production costs of the dwelling in
question. Thereafter this ‘right of occupation’ is sold at
market price from one occupier to the next, provided
that the new occupier is also accepted as a member by
the co-operative association.
Sweden has a comparatively young housing stock.
Data from 2002 reveal that approximately 10% was
built before 1921, 11% during the years 1921–1940,
22% between 1941 and 1960, 21% between 1961 and
1970, 18% between 1971 and 1980, 10% between
1981 and 1990 and 6% between 1991 and 2001.
The standard of housing in Sweden compares very
favourably to many other countries examined in this
The main focus of housing policy has been on the
supply of high-standard, affordable housing. Housing
subsidies provided by government have mainly been
supply-oriented and neutral in relation to tenure and
ownership. Interest subsidies have been made available
for virtually all new housing construction and
refurbishment. However, these subsidies have been
specifically designed to achieve parity between projects
in both categories, i.e. to ensure that capital outlays for
new production are not significantly higher than those
for older properties of comparable quality. For owneroccupiers,
these interest subsidies were linked to other
tax subsidies, in order to ensure that they were not
treated more advantageously compared to occupants of
other housing tenures. In addition, the rent-setting
system has also been a key instrument in providing
affordable housing for all.
occupiers. Interest subsidies for the refurbishment of
apartment blocks have also been restricted and are
now only available for certain types of work. As a
result of these reforms, expenditure by government on
housing has declined since the start of the 1990s. For
instance the cost of interest subsidies for new building
and refurbishment fell from 33,000 million Swedish
Krona (SEK) in 1993 to SEK 1,400 million in 2002.
The implementation of these cuts in interest subsidies
coincided with a significant increase in tax rates, an
economic recession characterised by high levels of
unemployment and low inflation and high real interest
rates. This in turn led to a steep rise in housing costs
(especially within the rental sector), a large number of
vacant rental dwellings, extremely low levels of
housing construction (particularly of rental dwellings),
a low level of maintenance and refurbishment of
funded through municipal taxes that are locally
determined. In practice, however, their policies and
actions are often heavily influenced by central
government policy requirements and the conditions for
receipt of central funding.
2.27.2 Stock
The Swedish housing stock consisted of 4.3 million
dwellings in 2002, which constitutes 482.7 dwellings
per 1,000 inhabitants. A comparatively large
proportion (approximately 55%) of these dwellings
were apartments. Only 38% of Swedish dwellings were
owner-occupied in 2002 – which is the lowest rate of
owner occupation amongst the countries under
examination. These owner-occupied dwellings are all
single-family houses as the owner occupation of
individual apartments within an apartment block is not
review. In 1990, the average number of rooms
(excluding halls and bathrooms) per dwelling was
4.18. In the same year the dwellings per 1,000
inhabitants stood at 471.0. Virtually all housing in
Sweden is fully modern in terms of services such as
water, sewage and electricity. However, a study carried
out in 2003 by the National Board of Housing,
Building and Planning concluded that a large number
of dwellings built during the 1960s and 1970s now
require substantial refurbishment and in order to
address this problem the average number of dwellings
being refurbished should increase from 20,000 to
65,000 per annum. In addition, roughly 75,000
staircases in multi-family houses with 3 or more
storeys are without a lift. There is a concern that
municipal housing companies and co-operatives may
have difficulty in raising the finance necessary to carry
out such improvements. A large number of owner-
At the same time some selective, demand-oriented
subsidies have been made available in the form of
housing allowances. Households living in all tenures
are eligible for these allowances, if their incomes fall
below a certain level, if the households include
children or pensioners or the applicant is aged between
dwellings, a sharpening of regional inequalities and a
deepening of residential segregation in the three
metropolitan cities.
By the end of the 1990s housing had regained its
traditional political import. This development was
possible under Swedish law. 46% of dwellings in the
country are rented and 52% of these are social housing
units rented from non-profit municipal housing
companies; the remainder is privately rented. The
distinctive Swedish co-operative tenure encompasses
16% of dwellings in the country. This tenure provides
occupied, single-family houses dating from the 1960s
and 1970s also require refurbishment, especially in
relation to shower rooms and basements.
80 European Union Report
Regular National Report on Housing Developments in European Countries
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