BOSTADSFÖRMEDLINGEN THIS IS HOW IT WORKS
THE PATH TO A NEW HOME If you re looking for housing in the Stockholm region, you need to search and register your interest with Stockholm s Housing Agency Bostadsförmedlingen. Remember the more proactive you are about your search, the greater your chances of being assigned an apartment. This is how it works: 1 2 JOIN THE QUEUE Anyone who is aged 18+ and who has a Swedish national identification (personnummer) or coordination number (samordningsnummer) can join the housing queue. It costs SEK 200 per year. You can sign up at bostad.stockholm.se SEARCH AND REGISTER YOUR INTEREST It s up to you to search for and register your interest in the vacant apartments advertised on our website. You ll find available properties listed under Sök bostad (Search properties). The time you spend in the queue will vary and will partly depend on where you want to live. 3 4 VIEW AN APARTMENT If you ve registered an interest and if you ve been queueing for longer than other applicants, you ll be invited to a viewing. It s important to attend a viewing as many landlords make this a requirement. ACCEPT OR DECLINE After the viewing, you need to decide whether you are still interested in the apartment. The easiest way to do this is to go to Mina sidor (My Pages) at bostad.stockholm.se
5 6 SHOW VERIFICATION If you have been in the queue for longer than anyone else who expressed an interest after the viewing, we will contact you. You will then need to provide verification showing that you meet the landlord s requirements for the apartment. Remember to have all your documents ready in advance. The landlord s requirements are stated in the apartment advert. SIGN THE CONTRACT AND MOVE IN Once you ve provided verification that you meet the landlord s requirements, we will propose you to the landlord as a tenant. Once the landlord has approved you, you and the landlord will sign the contract. And then it s time to move in! 7 CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW APARTMENT! We hope you ll be very happy there! As long as you keep paying the annual fee, you will remain in the housing queue, but you will go to the back of the queue and your new queueing time will start on the date when you got your new apartment. TIP! If you re a tenant with a first-hand contract with Stockholm s municipal housing company, there is an internal exchange queue. Find out more at bostad.stockholm.se
TYPES OF HOUSING Your circumstances will change throughout your life, as will your housing needs. You can look for different kinds of housing and different contract forms at Bostadsförmedlingen. You ll find a few examples below. You can read more on our website. For example, if you re aged between 18 and 25 (sometimes even up to 30), you can apply for a youth apartment (ungdomslägenhet), which is often slightly smaller and cheaper to rent. If you re studying at university, college or you re in higher vocational education, you can apply for a student apartment (studentbostad). If you re aged 55 or over, we can provide special apartments adapted for the needs of older people. Shortterm contracts (korttids kontrakt) offer opportunities for temporary accommodation, while you remain in the housing queue. Buddy contracts (kompiskontrakt) mean you can share an apartment and the contract with a friend.
ONE YEAR OR TWENTY. HOW LONG DO YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR AN APARTMENT? Stockholm has a housing shortage, which means you may have to wait before you get an apartment. How long you have to wait depends on a number of factors, including where you want to live and the kind of rent you can afford. Apartments that have higher rents and are located outside central Stockholm have shorter queueing times. The average queueing time is ten years (2017) and the majority of people get an apartment within eight to twelve years. But there is huge variation. Last year, we arranged contracts on 167 apartments with a queueing time of less than one year and 248 apartments at queueing times of over twenty years. BEING PROACTIVE GETS RESULTS. VISIT BOSTAD.STOCKHOLM.SE QUEUEING TIMES 2017 The graph shows the length of queueing times for apartments provided via Bostadsförmedlingen in 2017. PERCENTAGE 2016 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 0 2 2 4 4 6 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 14 14 16 16 18 18 20 20 > NO. YEARS The statistics are for standard tenancies, not contracts for students or young people, retirement apartments or short-term contracts. Source: Bostadsförmedlingen i Stockholm AB s database 2017
5,7 4,7 SIGTUNA 5,2 Märsta AVERAGE QUEUEING TIMES IN THE REGION, 2017 8,4 UPPLANDS VÄSBY VALLENTUNA UPPLANDS BRO TÄBY EKERÖ 9,9 8,2 JÄRFÄLLA 10,0 Hässelby-Vällingby 10,8 Rinkeby-Kista 9,2 Spånga-Tensta SOLLENTUNA 10,5 6,8 SUNDBYBERG 13,2 SOLNA DANDERYD 11,6 8,5 Bromma 12,4 9,4 STOCKHOLM Bostadsförmedlingen acts as agents for housing throughout the Stockholm region. The queueing time required to get an apartment varies depending on where you want to live in the region. 11,1 Skärholmen 13,5 12,8 Hägersten-Liljeholmen 9,6 Solberga 10 6,5 HUDDINGE 11,9 9,9 Älvsjö 11,6 Enskede-Årsta-Vantör 9,2 Stureby 9,1 11,8 7,7 Farsta 13,9 Skarpnäck 6,3 Sköndal SALEM 5,0 SÖDERTÄLJE 9,7 9,5 BOTKYRKA
AVERAGE QUEUEING TIMES, NO. YEARS, TENANCIES AVERAGE QUEUEING TIMES, NO. YEARS, NEW APARTMENTS 10,6 Norra Djurgårdsstaden 22,6 14,4 ÖSTERÅKER Norrmalm 14,4 10,6 Östermalm Kungsholmen 17,0 Södermalm 11,6 LIDINGÖ 8,9 7,4 VÄRMDÖ 9,6 NACKA 7,0 TYRESÖ 5,7 At first I was set on a particular area and I wasn t as proactive. But when I started broadening the search and considering other areas as well, that s when things started happening and I got my apartment! Anna 35, Västberga Vega 8,3 6,3 HANINGE Source: Bostadsförmedlingen i Stockholm AB s database 2017 Stadskartan
Bostadsförmedlingen acts as agents for vacant tenancies throughout the Stockholm region. Photo: Peter Hoelstad / Agent Molly 17.06 / 02 ABOUT THE HOUSING QUEUE It costs SEK 200 per year to remain in our queue. You can join the housing queue even if you don t live in Stockholm. You can join the queue from the day you reach the age of 18. You need to have a Swedish national identification (personnummer) or coordination number (sam ordningsnummer) in order to register to join the housing queue. All vacant apartments are advertised on our website. Would you like to find out more? Visit our website, where you ll find all the information you need: bostad.stockholm.se BOSTADSFÖRMEDLINGEN I STOCKHOLM AB BOSTAD.STOCKHOLM.SE KUNDSERVICE@BOSTAD.STOCKHOLM.SE TEL: 08-785 88 30 BOSTADSFÖRMEDLINGEN A MUNICIPAL COMPANY, CITY OF STOCKHOLM