This thesis examines all historical and present day rent control models in the context of the Swedish housing market, both in form and substance. The systematic study of the historical development illustrates how varieties of rent control regimes, i.e. rent setting regulations, have been a permanent feature in the Swedish rental market since 1942 when a rent freezing act was introduced. In a long reregulation process between mid-1950s and mid-1980s, the rent control transformed from a matter of public law to private law. As the latter, legislative initiatives over said decades have effectively established an all-encompassing legislative infrastructure subjecting all residential tenancy contracts in the primary and the secondary housing market, but also hotel like lettings, to regulations which aim to establish a fair rent.

The aim of the thesis is to determine what constitutes a fair rent in the Swedish residential tenancy law. The thesis finds that the concept of fair rent refers to a rent that does not exceed the applicable price ceiling – the objective price. Fairness of the subjectively applied rent is therefore assessed in relation to compliance with the permissible price. Divergence from the objective price is considered unfair if it contravenes the ceiling. The concept of fair rent derives its meaning from seven regulative models in the legal infrastructure. The main regulative models are found in the use value system – a system that is dominated by the collective bargaining regime where the Tenant's union enjoys a monopolylike position. The alternatives, contract models of different constructions, are found both within the scope of the use value system and outside. Within the co-operative rental sector, both an association model and the models of the use value-system can be found. The regulative models are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Several regulative models can be simultaneously applicable, whereby the same apartment can command several 'fair rents' − none less fair than the other. The arbitrary construction of fairness and its application on the rental market is the result of legislative initiatives, necessitated as reactive measures, and political compromises.  

Denna antologi har tagits fram inom ramen för Hyresrättsliga diskussionsklubbens (HDK) verksamhet. Artiklarna behandlar olika aspekter av den bostadsrättsliga regleringen vid upplåtelse- respektive överlåtelse av bostadsrätt. Rättsområdet är komplicerat och gällande lagstiftning är svårtillämpad – särskilt i fråga om upplåtelser i samband med nyproduktion och de avtalsinstrument som förekommer på bostadsrättsmarknaden.

Förhållanden som påverkar förvärvsmöjligheter av bostadsrätt, bl.a. medlemskapsprövningen, belyses, liksom särskilda typer av stadgevillkor. Även ansvarsfrågor i samband med överlåtelse av bostadsrätt tas upp.

The Swedish legislation for residential tenancies has historically been closely tied to the idea of tenement rights, i.e. the idea of treating the home the tenant has established in the rented dwelling as a home worth preserving. Ideas of tenement rights derive from the social rights movements in the first half of the last century. The case law from the ECtHR has developed a tenure protection within the human rights paradigm. The protection is considered to be an inherent part of the right to respect for home, proclaimed in Art. 8 ECHR.

Unlike the tenure protection prescribed by Ch. 12 in the Land Code, the tenure protection from the human rights paradigm in Swedish tenancy law provides protection to a wider circle of residents as it departs from the need to protect the individual and his/her attachment to the home. Most importantly, the establishment of the protected position is not conditioned by attaining the privileged position of being a contractual partner.

The presentation will discuss common grounds and areas of divergence between the two simultaneously applicable paradigms, as well as challenges to the Swedish rental market.

Här analyseras juridiska personers inträdesmöjligheter i en hyresgästbildad bostadsrättsförening med beaktande av ombildningsprocessen. Förvärvsmöjligheter avseende både bostadslägenheter och lokaler analyseras enligt gällande bostadsrättslag.

Hyresgäster åberopar EKMR Art. 8 om rätt till respekt för hemmet som grund mot uppsägning i ökad omfattning vid förlängningstvister. Den rättsliga prövningen har hittills hanterat det konventionsrättsliga besittningsskyddet som en del av hyreslagens skälighetsbedömning. Metodens konventionskompatibilitet kan ifrågasättas med anledning av Europadomstolens utvecklade principer om det konventionsrättsliga besittningsskyddet. Kärnan i det konventionsrättsliga besittningsskyddet är de rättssäkerhetsgarantier som en självständig tillåtlighetsprövning medger. Hur den systematiska, självständiga prövningen har utförts av Europadomstolen gås igenom i artikeln och kontrasteras med rådande hanteringsmodell i de hyresrättsliga forumen.

The Swedish rent control system is regularly referred to as being unique in international comparative studies. This paper introduces a legal study of the rent setting regulations. The paper was drafted for an academic seminar where the PhD Candidate presented her approach to the subject. The rules that regulate prices on residential housing market are constructed as a system where a judicial review acts as a guardian of the rents' fairness. The system also has an impact on the market rent level, which is why the system is sometimes described as a rent control system. The paper is in Swedish.

The Swedish landlord and tenant law legislation is an interaction between the collective bargaining system and the mandatory provisions in the Land Code of 1970. Almost the entire rental housing stock is included in the collective bargaining system. The most powerful player in the collective bargaining system is the Tenants’ Union. Its role is historically rooted in its close connection to the Social Democratic Party. The provisions in the Land Code are mandatory on the tenant’s behalf. Additionally, the regional Rent Tribunals play an important role in guarding the rights of the tenants. Tenants enjoy direct tenure security. A tenant who wants to remain in the tenancy agreement is generally entitled to prolongation despite the landlord’s termination of the agreement. Tenure security is guaranteed by the rent setting regulation. Therefore, tenants in Sweden enjoy extensive social protection. The legislations’ dependency on the collective bargaining system appears to have caused a weaker protection to tenants who have opted out of the system.

O regime jurídico sueco do arrendamento para habitação: a interacção entre a negociação coletiva e as regras imperativas

O direito do arrendamento sueco resulta da interação de um sistema de negociação coletiva e de normas imperativas previstas no Código Imobiliário de 1970. A grande maioria dos imóveis disponíveis para o arrendamento habitacional incluem-se no sistema de negociação coletiva. Este sistema tem como protagonista a Associação de Arrendatários, cujo posição se baseia historicamente na sua proximidade com o Partido Social Democrata. As normas do Código Imobiliário têm caráter imperativo em favor do arrendatário; e os Tribunais do Arrendamento, de âmbito regional, desempenham um importante papel na defesa dos direitos dos arrendatários. Os arrendatários habitacionais gozam de forte proteção na manutenção do gozo do imóvel, porquanto têm direito à prorrogação do contrato, mesmo contra a vontade do locador, e beneficiam de um sistema de controlo de rendas. Na Suécia, os arrendatários habitacionais têm, assim, uma ampla proteção social. Todavia, dada a relevância do sistema de negociação coletiva ao nível legislativo, os arrendatários que optam por ficar fora deste sistema parecem ter uma posição mais fraca.

Tenants at risk of forfeiture of their residential tenancies pursuant to the provisions in the Land Code, have started to invoke the right to respect for their home that Article 8 of the ECHR provides. Author's review of all cases where tenants have invoked their right to respect for their home pursuant to Article 8 of the ECHR demonstrates that the tenancy courts appear to be challenged by tenants’ right to respect for home as a human right. The challanges the courts face are both conceptual and methodological.