by Carina Listerborn:
Where do we go from here? The rise and fall of the Swedish housing model
Once, the Nordic countries were considered forerunners in housing welfare. While Denmark still maintains a large non-profit housing sector and Finland has (had) a state-supported system for affordable rental housing, Sweden has shifted towards a market-driven housing system—described as dysfunctional (for different reasons) by both the political left and the right. At the same time, the EU is launching the European Affordable Housing Plan in 2025, and the push for climate-neutral construction is transforming the industry. Is there now new hope for a more inclusive housing market—for all?
Departing from the Swedish case, this talk will examine the structural lock-ins of the post-war housing welfare system, the role of new institutional investors in the housing market, and the consequences for tenants in their everyday struggles to find and keep a home. In particular, young adults, women, and immigrants are disproportionately affected by the lack of affordable housing and often end up on an insecure sublet market operating in legal grey zones. What can be learned from the Swedish housing system—once so successful, now so widely criticized?