Subsidized Suburbia

Subsidized suburbia A shortage of housing and an insufficient amount of new construction make living increasingly expensive in growing Swedish cities, with Stockholm as the extreme example. In this text I want to discuss an unconventional possibility to ease this problem. The swedish minister of housing, Stefan Attefall, has during his 8 years in office initiated no less than 65 different investigations of how to improve the housing market and the planning system. The number illustrates the level of urgency that the housing shortage has. It endangers both the growth of the economy and expose inhabitants to social stress as renovictions becomes a more common practice for landlords to earn money. Lots of proposals to solve this problem are being presented. A common opinion in the debate is that this situation is caused by rent control and that the only solution to this problem is to set the market free. It is argued that rent control offers cheap housing for a lucky few...