What happened
The municipal housing company Uppsalahem is introducing an income cap for tenants in certain apartments in attractive areas. To be eligible to apply for one of these apartments, the applicant must earn under 24 400 kronor per month before tax. The initiative covers 40 apartments and is a pilot project in Uppsala. The purpose is to reduce segregation, the company's chair Elnaz Alizadeh (S) told Sveriges Radio.
Our analysis
Politicians constantly talk about breaking segregation, but this concerns only 40 apartments in a growing university town. For many new Swedes with low incomes, the regular housing market remains completely locked behind unreasonable income requirements and the whim of private landlords.
An income cap in more affluent areas certainly challenges the principle that only those with high salaries can live centrally. But a project on this scale functions mostly as a political showcase. It requires minimal resources to allocate around forty apartments, while avoiding building public housing rental apartments with reasonable rents that ordinary people can afford.
The question that must be asked is why segregation is always addressed with targeted measures and symbolic politics. When those in power celebrate that a handful of low-income earners get to move into nicer neighborhoods, they avoid having to deal with overcrowding and the shortage of affordable housing that affects thousands of others every day.
Explained
Allmännyttan refers to municipally owned housing companies tasked with offering rental apartments to all citizens regardless of income.