In this chapter, the authors discuss the historical development and the current state of the housing and welfare regimes in the Nordic countries, using Sweden and Norway as our main cases. The two neighbouring countries on the Scandinavian peninsula are often classified as generous social democratic welfare regimes with a high level of universalism and de-commodification. In the first postwar decades, however, Sweden and Norway chose different paths in the sphere of housing policy. In Sweden, there are four main forms of tenure. Ownership rights (owner-occupied housing) are mainly enjoyed in single-family houses. The Norwegian housing regime is a liberal and selective sector of what is still a generous welfare regime with many universal benefits and services. Sweden and Norway both experienced a gradual “system shift” in housing policy in the 1980s, 1990s and after the millennium. 

Sweden has seen a rise in homelessness alongside its strained housing market. References are increasingly being made to structural problems with housing provision, rather than individual issues. Housing has been organized through the local social services, which are responsible for supporting homeless people. With a foundation in housing studies, this article analyzes the Swedish social services’ challenges and actions in a time in which affordable housing is in shortage, and housing inequality a reality, through the lens of social services. The focus is on the intersection between the regular housing market and housing provision (primary welfare system), the social services needs‐tested support (secondary welfare system), and the non‐profit and for‐profit organizations (tertiary welfare system), with emphasis on the first two. The article is based on interviews with people working for the City of Malmö and illustrates how the housing shortage problem is moved around within the welfare system whilst also showing that social services’ support for homeless individuals appears insufficient. Social services act as a “first line” gatekeeper for those who have been excluded from the regular housing market. Moreover, recently implemented restrictions aim to make sure that the social services do not act as a “housing agency,” resulting in further exclusion from the housing market. The article highlights how the policies of the two welfare systems interact with and counteract each other and finally illustrates how homeless individuals fall between them. It highlights the need to link housing and homelessness in both research and practice to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of housing markets and how homelessness is sustained.

Martin Grander och Matilda Sandberg diskuterar hur såväl synen på som den faktiska utrymmesstandarden – i termer av trångboddhet – har förändrats över tid och hur denna skiljer sig åt mellan olika typer av hushåll. Som ett underliggande raster i kapitlet ligger frågan om ojämlikhet. Svenskarna bor generellt bra, men boendets kvalitet i termer av utrymmesstandard präglas av en betydande ojämlikhet. 

(Från bokens kapitel 1, "Allas rätt till bostad – introduktion", s. 16) 

Denna rapport utgör slutresultatet av ett forskningsprojekt om trångboddhetens sociala konsekvenser i Malmö, ett projekt som bedrivits inom forskningsmiljön Studier i boende och välfärd vid Malmö universitet med delfinansiering från det kommunala bostadsbolaget MKB Fastighets AB under 2021. I projektet har en kombination av kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder använts för att 1) kartlägga trångboddhetens utbredning i Malmö och 2) utforska trångboddhetens yttringar och sociala konsekvenser, med särskild fördjupning i de särskilt trångbodda delområdena Holma-Kroksbäck och Rosengård.

Statistik över socioekonomiska förhållanden och trångboddhet (enligt norm 2, norm 3, och en modifierad norm 3) har analyserats och visualiserats genom GIS-analyser. Dessa analyser har följts upp med enkätundersökningar till boende, där de svarande bland annat själva fått uppge om de tycker att bostaden är tillräckligt stor eller inte. Intervjuer har gjorts med boende som både upplever sig vara trångbodda och är det enligt norm 2 och/eller 3. Enkät- och intervjumaterialet innefattar boende även i andra delar av staden, inte enbart i Holma-Kroksbäck och Rosengård. Dessutom har yrkesverksamma som möter trångbodda hushåll i sitt arbete intervjuats.