In October 2024, the European Union announced its first commissioner with direct responsibility for housing, as Dan Jørgensen was appointed the EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing. The reactions were mixed. While some voices were positive about the increased focus on affordable housing and the possibility for the EU to support member states in tackling the housing crisis, concerns were raised about the EU interfering in an issue which by nature is national and local.

This paper investigates the possible consequences of renewed EU interference in the housing markets in Sweden and the Netherlands – two countries which have previously changed their legislation for social and public housing due to potential conflict with the EU’s state-aid rules. The paper provides an overview of the responses from political parties and key stakeholders in Sweden and the Netherlands and discusses the potential outcome of a change in state aid rules for the public/social housing systems. The authors call for a focus on the urgent shortage of affordable housing and its negative impact on individuals and society, and argue that politicians should use the opportunity to prioritize long-term systemic impact.

Barns Bostad Först är en modell som syftar till att underlätta för hemlösa barnfamiljer som lever i så kallad strukturell hemlöshet att få tillgång till en stabil och långsiktig boendesituation och en hållbar försörjning. Verksamheten drivs av de idéburna organisationerna Skåne Stadsmission och Rädda Barnen i samverkan med fastighetsföretag i Malmö och Helsingborg med stöd från flera andra aktörer.

Denna rapport utgör en populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning av följeforskningen av verksamheten. Följeforskningen har syftat till att belysa verksamheten i Barns Bostad Först utifrån ett brukar-, fastighetsägar-, organisations- och modellperspektiv.

Följeforskningen syftar till att bidra med kunskap kring ovanstående fyra perspektiv, men också med perspektiv kring den samtida svenska bostadsförsörjningens karaktär och särskilt dess eventuella brister i förhållande till målgruppen strukturellt hemlösa barnfamiljer.

Rapporten visar på mycket goda resultat för barnfamiljerna och resultaten pekar på att modellen Barns Bostad Först skulle kunna användas i en större skala för att minska den strukturella hemlösheten i målgruppen hemlösa barnfamiljer. Rapporten visar samtidigt på stora utmaningar för att kunna skala upp verksamheten, vilka främst beror på de brister i den svenska bostadspolitiska modellen som rapporten blottlägger.

A photographic mapping of doors in Swedish public housing, “Allmännyttan”. The doors are located in socio-economically different districts of Malmö.

The Swedish rental housing market has been in transition. The once dominating municipal public housing sector has been steadily decreasing. International firms have increasingly taken over rental housing in so-called socially deprived areas. This article analyzes the financialization of the former public housing stock. It traces activities in two housing estates and outlines the history and operations of venture capital-based real estate companies focusing on deprived areas in Sweden. These companies have upgraded multifamily homes and thus increased rents, which resulted in large profits and a decrease in the affordable housing stock. In this new reality, venture capital actors have taken advantage of contextual conditions and applied powerful calculative devices. Drawing on studies of financialization as a socio-technical process, the article contributes to knowledge by de-mystifying financialization through a detailed study of specific practices undertaken by international investors who acquire former public housing units in Sweden.

In this short introductory article, we summarise the contributions to the second part of the special issue on publicand social rental housing in the Nordic countries. We also emphasise that the journal is happy to consider scientificpapers for publication from across the Nordic region addressing the most pressing housing-related questions ofthe day. As inequality has been on the rise throughout the previously so egalitarian Nordics in recent decades, westrongly encourage researchers to submit papers that situate housing markets and housing policies in the widerdebate and empirical research on inequality.

This article introduces a counter-mapping strategy to visualize Malmö from a pedestrian perspective. It highlights the uneven distribution and fragmentation of current pedestrian spaces and aim to support a constructive approach to networks of slow roads. We are particularly concerned with processes to improve the mapping of pedestrian spaces and how maps might support constructive dialogues.

Långsamma vägar, eller kopplade frirum, är ett sätt att visualisera staden ur fotgängarperspektiv. Vi har påbörjat en kartläggning av långsamma vägar i Malmö, i syfte att upptäcka platser och förbindelser på ett nytt sätt. Studien använder GIS för att analysera och identifiera möjliga nätverk av långsamma vägar i relation till socio-ekonomiska skillnader mellan olika stadsdelar. Nätverk av långsamma vägar är värdefulla för att de ger möjlighet för människor att utforska staden, upptäcka natur och mötas.

Shared housing is a rather unusual phenomenon in Sweden. However, due to the decreasing availability of affordable housing and a large share of single-person households in urban areas, sharing is on the rise and new forms of shared housing have entered the market. By analysing how shared housing overlaps with existing patterns of socioeconomic segregation and by interviewing developers of diverse forms of shared housing in the cities of Stockholm and Malmö, this article aims to evolve the understanding of sharing housing from a perspective on housing inequality. We find that while many households are sharing housing because there are no other options, others share because they have the possibility to share certain spaces and facilities, which makes life easier and enhances a sense of togetherness. While the first category is concentrated in marginalized and racialized areas of the cities, the other category is concentrated in well-off areas. Developers offering shared solutions in marginalized areas are few but do so based on a discourse of ‘receiving less for more’, while developers offering shared housing in wealthier districts are doing so based on ‘sustainability’ and ‘making life easier’, as the shared housing includes private facilities and services that aim to support an effortless lifestyle in districts with existing urban assets. The conclusion is that sharing housing is no longer solely built on community spirit and de-growth, but sharing housing is also a reflection of contemporary housing inequality.

Although academic definitions of ‘corporatism’ differ, the concept is generally about organisational influence on state politics. Around 1980, Sweden was regarded as the archetype of welfare-state corporatism, but around the turn of the millennium the broad representation of organised interests in state politics was largely abolished. However, in the housing sector, strong interest organisations have continued to play a dominant and institutionalised role. Rents are negotiated collectively between organisations of estate owners and tenants, and these organisations also have strong influence on rental legislation and on housing policy more generally. We argue that this system should be seen as corporatist and to that end suggest a somewhat modified version of Philippe Schmitter’s well-established definition of corporatism. We claim that our ‘view from housing’ may contribute to the increased relevance of corporatism theory also in studies of other welfare sectors where market distribution is increasingly important.