SGS and the Tenants’ Association have started the dialog.
You may have heard of rent reviews, but what does it really mean? And why does it happen every year? Here we want to give you a simple explanation of the process and why it is important.
Why an annual rent review?
Rent negotiations are a way of ensuring that rents are set in a fair and transparent way. In Sweden, this is usually done through negotiations between the landlord and the Tenants’ Association, which represents the tenants. The aim is for both parties to agree on a reasonable rent based on cost developments, operations, maintenance and investments. This protects you as a tenant from unilateral rent increases, while SGS (i.e. the property owner) covers our costs and can continue to maintain and develop the housing.
SGS is a foundation. This means that our operations are run on commercial terms in competition with other housing companies, with the difference that the foundation is not primarily profit-making. The only source of income is our tenants’ rents, and we do not receive any extra subsidies from the municipality, the state, GU or Chalmers to keep student housing rents down.
How does a rent negotiation work?
Every year, SGS and the Swedish Tenants’ Association meet to go through the latest cost developments and current conditions for both SGS, society and you as a tenant. We present and discuss how operations, maintenance and investments have developed during the year. We then negotiate a rent level that both parties can accept. Neither of us can unilaterally set the level ourselves. The process is regulated by the Rent Act and should be as fair as possible.
When is the rent adjustment due?
When SGS and the Tenants’ Association have agreed on a new rent, we send out information to all tenants concerned. You will always be notified in good time before the new rent takes effect. Our ambition is that the new rent will be adjusted at the turn of the year.
Do you have more questions? Feel free to contact SGS Customer Service or ask them in the app’s chat, which we have loaded with lots of new information about the lease negotiation and the foundation.
