Ugo51

Hi,
it seems to me the most famous fact about Stockholm is how hard is to find a flat.
Reading here http://stockholm4foreigners.blogspot...t-hunting.html one may think "I better to to live under a bridge" but actually when I look for a flat to rent here http://www.blocket.se/bostad/uthyres...is=1&l=0&md=th there's plenty of them

Could you explain this to me?
Is it really SO hard to find a flat, or is it just as hard as in any other major city, only the phenomenon has been blown out of proportion?

cheers

MHayes

There's plenty of them available they just cost a fortune to rent/buy, usually way outside the price range of the person searching.

Trying to find something that will leave you with food money at the end of the month is the larger problem lol.

Ugo51

yeah, actually I hadn't noticed those prices refer manily to single rooms

with the postdoc salary topping at 300k SEK I can't really afford a 15k/month rent

Blackladder

The population of Stockholm has gone up by a quarter of a million over the last 5 years and in that time 80,000 new homes have been built. Since Sweden is governed by a coalition of the greens and the feminists; first they prefer trees to people in their cities, second the cost of heating is among the dearest in Europe, third you will be penalised for owning any form of motor vehicle, fourth you will be called on by the grim reaper Before you ever get a flat via a local council waiting list. Conclusion? Don't go there!
Blackie

Ugo51

we are on the same page then

what this list actually is? Does it mean I cannot get the flats I see on the webpage of an estate agent because there might be people on a list who has the right to take it before me?
Or does it apply only for council-owned flats?

Blackladder

It applies only to council flats.

Ugo51

Well, that's a relief after all.
I guess at this point it doens't even make sense to give a look in that list given I will retire before to be awarded a flat

I just have to improve a little better in my Swedish so to able to surf through the ads more easily.

skylarkpilot

The waiting list to obtain a flat on a first hand contract is farcical, get your parents to sign up when you're five and by the time you're twenty five you may get offered something. This is why most people go the black market route. My son and his girlfriend found a flat within two weeks near the T'bana about a fifteen minute ride from Centralen. It's costing them 8000 a month but of course it has no security of tenure as it's not a first hand contract.
The problem is that people who own flats are not automatically allowed to rent them out. You have to get permission and it's unusual for that permission to last beyond a year. The government here really don't understand how much tax they're losing out on by leaving such a retarded system operating. Because you rent out without permission you cannot declare the income for tax. Advanced society my sweet rear end !