What happened
On June 1 this year, a new law on shelters entered into force in Sweden. The law requires that the country's approximately 64,000 existing shelters with space for 7 million people be upgraded so they can be prepared within 48 hours in the event of heightened alert. Most of the shelters are located in apartment buildings built between 1950 and 1970, where maintenance has in many cases been neglected for several decades. The state is not prepared to pay for measures resulting from neglected maintenance, meaning property owners are expected to cover costs that could reach around 10,000 kronor per space.
Our analysis
The state has introduced the new requirements but left the bill for decades of neglected maintenance to property owners. This means property owners are expected to pass the renovation costs directly onto residents through higher rents and fees. In one calculation example, the upgrade means a cost of 1,250 kronor per month per apartment over a two-year period. The economic debate revolves around state loan guarantees to property companies, but overlooks that it is households in apartment buildings from the 1950s and 1960s that ultimately will have to pay. The next step will be property owners' demands for rent increases, where ordinary tenants are forced to pay for management that the property owners themselves have neglected.
Explained
A shelter is a specially reinforced space in a property intended to protect the population in the event of war and be capable of being prepared within 48 hours.