Subventioner och hyresrätter? En bostadspolitisk studie
Rented apartmentSubsidyHousing policiesHouse buildingHousing shortageHyresrättSubventionBostadspolitikBostadsbyggandeBostadsbrist
Since the early 1940s in Sweden, subsidies have been a recurring feature in housing politics.Throughout history, these have been used as a management measure to control theconstruction of housing and to promote the Swedish welfare state. The political parties aretoday disagreeing on how much responsibility the state should carry for citizens housing. Tosolve the conflict, the dwelling has to be defined. Is the dwelling to be considered a socialright, like education and healthcare or is the dwelling to be considered a product for the freemarket, driven by supply and demand?The positive population growth in Stockholm has lead to an increased demand for dwellings.The supply of dwellings has not been growing at the same rate, which has implied higherhousing prices and longer wait for rented apartments. All municipalities in Stockholm agreesthat more dwellings must be established to counter this development. To make this happen,the source of why so few dwelling develops today must be identified. Do the developers notwant to build or are they not being provided land allocations by the municipalities? Is it acombination of these or are there other difficulties in the system? Subsidies have previouslybeen used as a tool to increase the construction of dwellings and it should therefore beexamined if such a solution is relevant in order to remedy existing problems. In an attempt topredict the outcome of a re-introduction of subsidies, the impact of past governmentintervention should be studied. This to ascertain what type of construction that took place atthat time. It is also important to identify the types of dwellings sought for in today's housingmarket in order to develop appropriate solutions.There are several different forms of subsidies that could lead to an increased constructionvolume. Subsidies of land, infrastructure and investment contributions are some of the optionsthat could be implemented on the market to reduce the housing shortage. But which type ofconstruction should be increased? What kind of tenure is the society short of? In order tocreate balance in the housing market there seems to be a need for all types of tenures toincrease, but not everyone agree to this. The housing market where demand, however, alwaysexceeds supply today is the rental market, especially in central Stockholm where the systemof rent regulations has lead to a rent level kept below market rent.Today rented apartments are at disadvantage in the Swedish tax system, which hascontributed to a lower construction rate of this type of tenure compared to others where thedevelopers gets a quicker return on their investment. Rented apartments are necessary on thehousing market because it creates flexibility and contributes to the choices available for theindividuals. Some say that Stockholm as a city can not grow without this tenure for the simplereason that people can not get hold of a dwelling.These are issues that must be solved through housing politics, which means that the decisionsand rules on the market can change direction every four years. Construction processes arelong, often longer than four years. This creates an uncertainty for the stakeholders in thehousing market. To generate a sustainable housing market long-term, an alternative solutioncould be joint agreements spanning political borders. A well-functioning housing marketcontributes not only to shelter but also promotes welfare and economic growth. It is thereforeof great importance that the market participants are moving in the same direction.