The article in brief
● A broker sublets several apartments with high rent premiums.
● Residents criticize the property owner and believe that vulnerable people are being affected.
● The tenants’ association sees over-letting and points out that money can be demanded back.
In the summer of 2021, the apartment building in the northwest of Stockholm got new owners. It was the real estate company Technopolis, which specializes in offices, which bought the adjacent office buildings from Atrium Ljungberg and also “received” the apartment building as part of the purchase.
A resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that the information is no longer available since the change of ownership and that things have developed in a negative direction in recent years.
– Everything has gotten worse. It feels like they are ignoring us, she says.
A clear change is visible on the nameplate in the gate. Three of the apartments are now used as tenants by a company. The company is owned by a man who runs a brokerage office in the area. But he’s not the one who lives in the apartments. He sublet them through ads on Facebook, with a markup of between 50 and 70 percent over the negotiated rent.
For example, he advertised an unfurnished first floor apartment of 51 square meters for SEK 11,000 and a third floor apartment of 75 square meters for SEK 17,000 per month. According to the tenants’ association, the rents for these apartments are actually just over SEK 7,000 and SEK 10,500 respectively.
The Facebook ads show that the agent has rented out the apartments until further notice and has asked for a monthly rental deposit as a deposit.
The resident DN meets describes that the residents of the “agent apartments” were mostly people of foreign origin who did not know exactly how Swedish rental law works.
– These are people who don’t speak the language and don’t know their rights. There are already exposed people who are even further exposed because they don’t even have a direct contract and could therefore be fired at any time, says the woman, who herself has a direct contract and has lived in the house for a long time.
In one of the apartments A Bangladeshi man has been living with his mother for two years. He also doesn’t want his name to appear in the newspaper.
– I want to move away from here, but it’s difficult because I’m taking care of my mother and we can’t move anywhere. But I hope we find something soon, he says.
Niclas Sundell is a federal prosecutor at the tenants’ association and knows the rule that subtenants have to pay more than appropriate. According to the law, you are not allowed to charge more than 15 percent extra for a furnished apartment. In this case, the apartments were rented unfurnished and at a significantly higher premium.
– It looks like significant over-letting. However, there are ways to claim money back if you have overpaid. And that can be requested retroactively for up to two years, says Niclas Sundell.
The broker doesn’t want that shows up for a job interview but writes in an email that the original purpose of the apartments was to rent them out to new employees and interns in his brokerage office.
“With the declining housing market and waning interest in the real estate brokerage profession, the purpose of these houses has diminished. Therefore, I have already started a dialogue with the owner to find a solution to hand over the houses and allow the existing residents to stay,” he writes.
He also claims that such a solution should have been found now, without specifying what it looks like.
However, he does not answer questions about why he did not return the apartments immediately and why he charged such high rents.
However, the agent points out that “plans to rent out houses or land do not contradict the mandate of a real estate agent.”
Brokers can by law According to Jennie Ekekrantz, a lawyer at the Real Estate Inspectorate, they do not engage in “trust-destroying activities” in addition to their mandate, but there are no decisions on whether the rental of used apartments can be counted as such.
Anders Lindskog, responsible for the property owner Technopolis, also does not want to appear for an interview, but writes in an email:
“In principle, we give our consent to subletting in individual cases. However, Technopolis is not involved in the subletting agreement, and Technopolis does not know the rent amount during the subletting.”
Facts.Then you can get the rental back
● To receive a refund, the rent you paid must exceed the actual use value of the apartment (initial rent). The easiest way to find out is to contact the tenants’ association.
● If you rent a furnished apartment, the premium cannot exceed 15 percent of the first tenant’s rent. If the apartment is not furnished, the rent must be the same.
● If you signed a rental agreement after the end of September 2019, you can apply to the Rent Board for a refund of the overpaid rent before two years. One year applies to contracts that were concluded previously.
● The above rules apply when you sublet a tenancy. Different rules may apply to condominiums.
Source: The tenants’ association
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