Fair rent

Update on the project

The inventory of the apartments is running! We take the properties in alphabetical order.

On 2 June 2023, the following properties have been inventoried:

Akacian (Brogatan 47)
Apeln (Garnisonsgatan 53, 55, 57)
Asken (Lundagårdsgatan 6, 8, 10, 12, Parkgatan 1, 3)
Blåsippan (Björknäsvägen 10, 12, Brogatan 22,24, Garvaregatan 9,11)
Boden 48:5 (Egils gränd 1, 3)
Boden 55:9 (Jakobsgatan 15)
Boden 56:12 (Mjölners gränd 5, 7, Snorres gränd 5, 6)
Boden 56:50 (Brogatan 44)

The properties to be inventoried before the holiday are:

Boden 57:13 (Jakobsgatan 17–37)
Boden 57:14 (Jakobsgatan 25)
Boken 12 (Ringvägen 5, Sadelmakaregatan 1 och Drottninggatan 12).

In July we have a holiday and no inventories will take place during week 27 – 31.

Inventory in August

Tenants who live in apartments inventoried in August will receive letters before our holiday. It may be difficult to reach us during July but my (Viktoria’s) email will be checked from time to time.

Have you not had a visit from us?

If you live at one of the addresses inventoried but haven´t yet had a visist from us, it may be because we inventoried your apartment before you moved in, or that we will inventory your apartment in connection with your move-out inspection. At Brogatan 44, we have done random samples in a few apartments because the house is so newly built.

Information letter and SMS reminder

Before the inventory, we send out a letter to the tenants of the property we are going to inventory. This mailing is done 4 weeks before it is due. The week before, we send a ”reminder SMS” about which day we start the inventory.

Please check that your contact details are correct on my pages.

Inventory

We are usually two people who inventory the apartments. One checks that the maintenance matches our property system’s information about the apartments. The other of us ”checks off” the list of parameters that we developed together with Hyresgästföreningen. Examples of parameters are what type of bathroom cabinet is in the apartment, what floors the rooms are and that we measure the rooms’ surfaces.

The inventory takes about 5 minutes, but of course we have time to talk for a while with you tenants who are home, if you have any questions or want to make comments. We have had many pleasant meetings with your tenants and we hope to continue to do so in the future.

After the inventory, we cannot say what your new rent will be. At present, we have only developed parameters that we must check, after the inventory, the parameters must be scored together with Hyresgästföreningen.

Error report

We would like to remind you that we cannot fix faults in your apartments, such as loose wallpaper, drawers in the kitchen that are broken or dripping taps, if you have things that need to be looked over or fixed in your flat, report a fault. The easiest way to report an error is via our website on my pages. You can also call customer service between 10am and 2pm (closed for lunch between 11am and 12pm).

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank you for taking the time to answer the customer survey regarding fair rent!

Victoria Danell
Project manager

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Fair rent

Fair Rent, or Systematic rent setting, is a rent setting model where each apartment is assessed and scored based on, among other things, the tenants’ values. It is the tenants’ values ​​of modernity, standard, location and management quality that must be reflected in the rent and affect the rent in each individual apartment.

Systematic rent reduction is nothing new. Today, more than 50% of the apartments in the public housing companies are covered by some form of systematic rent control. It has been around for over 30 years in various guises and has been called many different names, for example: Fair rent, Right rent, Nice rent, Points rent, Applied utility value rent or Rent review.

For the sake of simplicity, we will call it Fair Rent.

Current rental setting model

In the current rent setting model, the year of construction of a property has great significance for the rent level. This has meant that two identical properties with the same standard have different rent levels depending on when the houses were built. It can also be the case that two apartments of the same size with different standards have the same rent. Unreasonable differences in rents have never been evened out because rent increases have been the same across the entire property portfolio.

What is the objective?

The goal of Fair Rent is just as it sounds, to achieve a fairer rental rate. The goal is also for you as a tenant to understand how your rent is structured. It becomes natural when everyone has the same conditions for what governs the rent. The rents must be the same in rental apartments with the same utility value. Value in use means the practical value the apartment has from the tenant’s point of view.

The new rent adjustment model is therefore not a way to raise the rent, but a way to redistribute the rents so that you as a tenant pay the right rent for your apartment.

How does Fair Rent work?

The Fair Rent model is based on each apartment being assessed and scored based on a number of parameters such as size, layout, general location, location in the building, sound insulation, elevator, proximity to public transport and so on. The tenants are usually involved and value the parameters in the process. The score is then determined in negotiations between the housing company and the Tenants’ Association.

Three factors govern the rent:

Apartment type accounts for 70% of the rent

The size of the apartment, i.e. how many square meters it is and how many rooms it has, has the greatest importance when assessing the rent. These scores are the same across the country.

Factors:

• Number of rooms
• The size of the apartment

Fastighetens standard står för 25% av hyran

Here, the technical quality of the property is assessed, e.g. outdoor environment, laundry facilities and garbage disposal.

The type of house is also a decisive factor. Examples of factors:

• Proximity to the center, grocery store, etc.
• Bicycle and pram room
• Elevator
• Way of laundry room booking
• Year of construction
• Building type
• Status of window
• Ventilation efficiency

The property’s standard accounts for 25% of the rent

By standard in the apartment is meant, for example, the standard of the bathroom and the kitchen, surface finish, access to balcony and patio, etc.

Examples of factors:

• Balcony
• Storage
• Type of floor
• Tiles
• Dishwasher
• Washing machine
• Security door
• Fan/hood over stove
• Soft-closing doors in kitchens

 

Who stands behind Fair Rent?

The Tenants’ Association, Sweden’s public utility and the Property Owners have together produced a guide on how to work with the rent setting model.

 

What happens now?

The work to systematize the rent settlement takes several years but follows a fixed plan.

Survey

We will start by sending out a survey at the beginning of 2023 to all tenants so that we can determine your values ​​of modernity, standard, location, quality of management and more that form the basis of the points system. Thank you for answering it!

Inventory

We have to inventory and basically inspect every property and apartment, something that is estimated to take a year. We will send out a notification when it is time for the inventory in your house. You can then let us know if the time is not suitable or if there are pets in your apartment. During the inventory, we go through a checklist that we developed together with the Tenants’ Association. For example: is there a dishwasher, type of flooring in the rooms, if it is plastic carpet or tiles in the bathroom. The inventory takes about 20–30 minutes.

Apartment declaration

When the inventory is complete, an apartment declaration is sent to you as a tenant for you to review and make sure that everything is correct in your apartment. Once we have received all the approvals and made the adjustments needed, we can start rent negotiations.

Rent negotiation

The scoring is determined in negotiations between Bodenbo and the Tenants’ Association.

Introduction

Before the systematic rent adjustment is complete, it is not possible to say whether the target rent for your apartment will be higher, lower or remain at the same level as before the project. Should the negotiation with Tenants’ Association conclude that your rent should be changed, that phasing in will take place successively over a number of years until the target rent is reached.

Then we have a fair rent!