The battle has barely subsided over this year's rents for 1.5 million households before the negotiations for 2025 get underway. The initial bid from Fastighetsägarna, which represents private property owners of 400,000 apartments, is 15.4 percent.
For 2024, the increase landed at an average of 5.2 percent. The request from Fastighetsägarna was then around 12 percent.
At the same time, the rent for nearly 300,000 tenants is already clear for next year in two-year agreements. The average increase is 4.5 percent.
"Completely wrong"
Carl-Johan Bergström, chief negotiator for the Tenants' Association, believes that Fastighetsägarna is "completely wrong" with their new bid and lacks negotiating willingness.
If you're a responsible party on the rental market, you don't come out with that kind of figure. It will be noticed, as many property owners will not demand those levels.
The negotiations are to be guided by an agreement that the three parties, Sveriges Allmännytta, Fastighetsägarna, and the Tenants' Association, agreed on in 2022. The basis is a shared understanding of the economic situation. However, Fastighetsägarna has accused the Tenants' Association of not following it.
Rikard Ljunggren, CEO of Fastighetsägarna GFR, states that they used the agreement to arrive at their bid – but they don't expect to get the entire increase.
It's quite reasonable to base it on that. Then we'll have a negotiation about how much those who actually live there should pay and how much the industry should absorb, he says.
New rules
Last negotiation, the rules for private landlords changed. Then, independent arbitrators were introduced, who can provide a recommendation to the parties on the rent when the negotiation fails.
Over 4,300 property owners involved an arbitrator. The Tenants' Association accuses them of testing the system in hopes of higher increases – something Fastighetsägarna denies.
The parties have stood very far apart, and we think we've moved more in the negotiations than they have. If you don't agree, this is an option, says Ljunggren.
Sveriges Allmännytta, Fastighetsägarna, and the Tenants' Association should have the same starting point in the annual rent negotiations.
What is recommended to be based on is local conditions, such as electricity and waste fees, as well as management and maintenance costs. National factors like interest rates, GDP, and inflation are also counted. The socio-economic development in the area should also be taken into account. The local conditions of housing companies, such as returns, should be weighed in.
Then it is weighed against the tenants' need for reasonable, stable, and predictable rent development. Reasonableness is calculated based on GDP and inflation, while the other two needs are based on a multi-year average of economic factors.
Parties can make local agreements that deviate, but then everyone must agree.
Source: Sveriges Allmännytta
2023: 4.1%
2022: 1.7%
2021: 1.4%
2020: 1.9%
2019: 1.9%
2018: 1.1%
2017: 0.8%
2016: 0.8%
2015: 1.3%
2014: 1.7%
2013: 2.2%
The rent increase in 2023 was the highest since 1994.
Source: SCB
