Sweden faces housing shortage crisis: senior economist Eklund

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Dec. 19(Greenpost)–Klas Eklund, Chairman of the Swedish Housing Crisis Committee, SEB bank senior economist has said that Sweden has faced a shortage of houses leading to a shortage crisis.

DSC_5258

“It is definitely a crisis in a sense that there are not enough housing, We have had a great inflow of refugee from middle east, asylum seekers. And a combination of lack of construction and low mobility on real estate market means we have an urgent crisis of houses today,” said Eklund.

He made a presentation again at a seminar held by Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm recently.  Leading the Swedish Housing Crisis Committee, they published a report about housing situation in Sweden in June 2014. The report had been presented to the government, but it seemed not enough attention or action to be given.

DSC_5295According to his report, Sweden has been building houses and the number of houses have been doubled. However, the demand is increasing drastically due to the rapid influx of refugees.

“We have a lack of housing and that housing prices are pushed up rapidly . Some people even believe there is a crash, I don’t believe in that, but there is numerous kinds of problems. Very high prices in the cities, and a huge influx of immigrants and too low constructions,” said Eklund.

Being asked about what measures can be taken or what kind of suggestions he has made, Eklund said:

“I think a number of things have to be done, we havet to stimulate construction and make it easier by easing up the regulatory process which is common in Swedish municipalities. I also think you have to change the tax system. Now the sales tax is very high and there is so low mobility in the market. Further more when it comes to rental apartment, there is a regulation, ceiling for rents, which means it is not profitable to build rental apartments. Not profitable enough,” said Eklund.

China is famous for building faster. When being asked if Chinese developers can help ease the situation, Eklund said he is happy to see them to come and try.

” I am happy to see them to come and try. I definitely welcome them. There is already a lack of construction workers. I think a lot of politicians and decision-makers would welcome Chinese construction workers. But the problem is the Swedish labor market which has a very high minimium wages and it is very strict. Rent control and building permit. Process from planning to construction takes very long time,” he warned.

DSC_5262Olle Zetterberg, CEO of Stockholm Business Region agrees with Eklund.

 

“I think he is totally right. Housing crisis here in Stockholm and other major cities is the major threat to our otherwise good economy. We have a very good growth rate. The problem is  if we can house so many people. We have so many refugees coming to Sweden, we have to house them. They can’t stay in tents for a long time,” said Zetterberg.

He said  the problem is shortage of housing.

“We have to do a lot of things, financial regulation, tax change. It is not a quick fix, it is a long term issue, ” Zetterberg said.

He held that changes must be done at national and governmental level. People in the parliament and government have to do more to change the tax, change the rules and make it easy to move or to build. The current regulations are so easy to stop people from building.

He also thinks it is not bad if there are Chinese bidders coming to build. He also complained that the workers rules are too strict for companies to hire people.

DSC_5285Hans Lind, professor in economics at Swedish Royal Institute of Technology or KTH said that is definite that there is a shortage of housing in Sweden. The question is whether it should be built by the municipalities or by private developers.

DSC_5271Lennart Weiss from Veidekke, a Norweigian builder said he was very disappointed at the non-action by government.

He agreed with Eklund’s proposal and called on the government, no matter it is the red-green ruling parties or the blue alliance opposition to join hands to solve the housing shortage problem.

“Sweden has a tradition that various parties can make compromise in key issues and find a better solution,” Weiss said.

Swedish population is expected to surpass the ten million record due to the influx of refugees late this year.

DSC_5266About 100 people from various real estate related companies, universities, banks and parties and government attended the seminar.

Photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson

 

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瑞典房地产危机在于住房短缺 欢迎中国开发商

 

北欧绿色邮报网报道(记者陈雪霏)——瑞典房地产危机委员会主席SEB银行经济学家克拉斯. 埃克伦德(Klas Eklund)日前在瑞典商会研讨会上指出,瑞典房地产面临严重危机,那就是住房短缺。急需改革,急需尽快多建住房。DSC_5258

埃克伦德领导的住房危机委员会在2014年6月发布了一份报告。报告指出,尽管瑞典一直在盖房子,房子的数量也比以前增加了一倍,但是,由于更多难民的涌入,现在主要城市的住房相对紧缺,由此也推高了房价。

埃克伦德在接受北欧绿色邮报网采访时说:“从房地产短缺的意义上讲,确实存在危机。我们从中东来了很多难民。我们建设的房子少,市场流动少,因此,我们有紧急危机。“

DSC_5295他说,“由于房子短缺,房价一直在涨,而且长得很快。有人认为可能会甭盘,但我觉得还没有到那种地步。但是,我们有很多问题。城里房价很高,移民很多,建房不够。我想要解决问题,我们必须刺激建筑行业,要简化规则,使得各个城市能够比较容易地盖房子。我认为我们必须改变税收制度。现在的销售税非常高,但市场流动非常少。租金有封顶,就是建设承租房,也不盈利。“

瑞典的问题正好和中国的相反。中国建的快,拆的快,行动快。有很多地方建了太多的房子,卖不出去。但在瑞典,议会和中央政府规定太严格,想获得建房的许可需要很长时间,规定非常苛刻。例如,想建别墅,必须要有600平方米。不够1200平方米,就不可能建两栋别墅。在600平方米的土地上你只能在20%的土地上建别墅。

因此,有人说,瑞典现在的房地产政策还是二战时的政策,还是计划经济的产物,没有完全市场化。 现在应该放开,让市场来释放建设能量。

DSC_5262埃克伦德的建议得到很多业内人事的赞同。斯德哥尔摩投资促进署的首席执行官乌勒.泽特贝尔(Olle Zetterberg)在接受记者采访时说,埃克伦德是对的。以斯德哥尔摩为例,市政官员可以建房,但是,这必须有议会和中央政府的改革,尤其是税务改革,激励房地产市场。瑞典用工制度也特别严格,这些都阻止市场盖更多的房子。盖房许可很慢,工人最低工资比较高。社会保险也比较高。

当记者问他是否欢迎中国开发商来这里盖房时,他说非常欢迎,但现在的政策需要改善,以便外来开发商也可以来建房。难民的涌入速度太快,很多人还住在临时搭建的帐篷里,因此,需要建更多的房子。他说,外来开发商如果来,当然也必须和当地大开发商同样竞争,这就看谁的标的更好了。

DSC_5271挪威建筑开发商Veidekke的瑞典代表Lennart Weiss对住房危机委员会的报告表示非常赞同。他对记者说,他对政府对住房危机报告的无反应不作为表示非常失望。认为现政府应该认真考虑如何解决房地产危机,至少从现在就开始有所行动。

报告提交上去半年多了,似乎没有反应,业内人士认为,不能等到来不急了,再考虑,一定要未雨绸缪。

DSC_5285瑞典皇家理工学院房地产经济学家汉斯.林德也认为瑞典需要盖更多的房子,但是,到底是由政府统一盖,还是让民营开发商盖,这需要好好计算,到底看谁建设更划算。

DSC_5266其实,这些人都是支持社民党的人,但是,他们希望政府在房地产方面有所作为。Weiss说瑞典各个党派都有妥协的传统,希望能在房地产问题上,两大阵营,红绿执政党和在野的温和联合党能够尽快达成一致。否则,太令人失望。

据最新报道,瑞典人口已经超过1000万大关。这和今年涌入的大量移民肯定有关系。另外,移民的生育率也普遍比较高。

图文/陈雪霏

 

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