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Rent is so high in Stockholm that it's cheaper to live in a hotel
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The Stockholm housing market leaves many eager newcomers discouraged.
In Stockholm, it is simply not possible to log on to a rental website and call up your future landlord to make an offer.
Technically, you are supposed to queue up for an apartment for up to two decades, in order to have a chance at renting a flat in a randomly assigned location.
Due to a series of price regulating policies dating from earlier decades, and a status quo in Swedish residential politics, the entire rental market in the Swedish capital has gradually gone "dark", meaning that your best chance of finding a flat is to rely on family- or professional connections.
”The waiting list for apartments is growing longer, and as a result the competition, the second hand market is getting tougher — despite record high average rents," said Linnéa Aguero, press representative at Blocket, a Swedish housing website.
In the last year, the average rent for studio- and two-room apartments in Stockholm rose with 7 and 6 percent, respectively.
This is a point of contention for individuals and companies alike. Spotify has lobbied the issue openly with Swedish politicians, in order to make Stockholm, one of Europe's key tech cities, more attractive to foreign talent.
The average studio apartment now costs almost 8,000 krona, whereas a more central location easily surpasses 10,000 ($1100) per month and could reach 15,000 ($1650) in the most attractive locations.
The parallels with San Francisco are there, as far as young people having to pay up to half of their wages in rent.
For this reason, the apartment website Bostad Direkt has started offering cheaper living in a hotel in the suburb of Bromma, for less than 9,000 krona per month, writes Breakit and Dagens Nyheter.
"As there are not sufficient numbers of apartments, we realized that we had to think differently and find alternative solutions. Offering a hotel room as a temporary accommodation for a fair price felt like a reasonable first step to meet the growing demand," said Victor Börjesson, CEO at Bostad Direkt, to Breakit.
The market response has been overwhelming, not least from tech companies.
"We currently have numerous IT-consultants using the hotel rooms as temporary lodging, while they keep searching for a flat," Börjesson continues.
A double room will cost 10 500 kronor per month, and a family room is some 15 500 krona per month. And there is no problem filling the vacant rooms.
”We have a few double rooms left. The single rooms are the most popular ones, they are booked immediately," said site manager Marée Persson Anthony to DN.
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