Swedish Housing Research Articles

Agenda 21 practised in Swedish housing management—results from a multi-case study

Agenda 21 practised in Swedish housing management—results from a multi-case study

Airway symptoms among house painters in relation to exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCS)—a longitudinal study

The increased use of water-based paint (WBP) for indoor application during the last decade has drastically changed the exposure conditions for Swedish house painters. WBP has a lower emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than solvent-based paint (SBP), but contains more reactive compounds, such as biocides, glycol ethers, and other high molecular solvents. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of airway symptoms and self-reported asthma in house painters with a different degree of use of WBP and SBP. The incidence of seven general airway symptoms, and three work-related symptoms, was analysed by means of a self-administered questionnaire, in a cohort of 207 house painters followed from 1989 to 1992. Different airway symptoms were compared with clinical information obtained by a methacholine challenge test and dynamic spirometry in a selected subgroup of 44 painters. Information on the degree of use of SBP and WBP was used to estimate the total exposure to volatile organic compounds (TVOC) for each individual. In total, 175 men in the cohort worked as painters during the study period. No increase of asthma or respiratory symptoms was observed among those 50 painters with a pure exposure to WBP (estimated TVOC 1–3mgm−3). Most painters (N = 125) had a mixed exposure to SBP and WBP, the main source of the TVOC being the limited use of SBP. WBP was perceived as less irritative than SBP, but complaints on airway irritation from WBP increased during the study period. The most pronounced increase of airway irritation in relation to both SBP and WBP, was observed among those 35 painters with the highest solvent exposure (estimated TVOC 100–380 mgm−3). An increase of respiratory symptom index and shortness of breath, in relation to estimated TVOC exposure was also observed. Selection effects were detected. Painters leaving their job during the study period had more non-specific hyper-reactivity symptoms, and more airway irritation from WBP-as compared to painters remaining at their occupation. Our study indicates that VOC emissions from SBPs may contribute to the development of respiratory symptoms and airway irritation. We found no increase of respiratory symptoms among painters exposed only to WBPs. There were, however, indications that VOC exposure from WBPs may cause airway irritation in some subjects. Because of selection effects, cross-sectional studies on respiratory symptoms in relation to occupational exposure to paint emissions may be inconclusive.

Local Innovation And Global Change: ‘Remaking The Welfare State’ In Sweden1

Swedish urban planning and housing policies have been seen as exemplars by many Australian policy makers. The mixture of state activism, strong local government, broad concepts of welfare policy and social housing, coupled with wide community acceptance of these ideals, has enabled major innovations in housing policy. This article describes the historical background and recent changes to these policies within Sweden's changing political framework. It also shows that global fiscal changes, coupled with Sweden's entry into the ‘federalising’ European Union, have changed the context of these policies. Swedish housing and urban policy is changing; Swedish local government has a strong role in the development and implementation of these changing policies. There are many interesting lessons for Australian urban policy in these changes.

Measured 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields in Swedish and Norwegian residential buildings

A comparative study of 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields in houses and offices in Sweden and Norway has been carried out. The local distribution systems in houses are often different in the two countries. Overall mean levels determined in houses were as follows: E fields 54 V/m (SD=37) and 77 V/m (SD=58) in Sweden and Norway respectively; B fields 40 nT (SD=37) and 13 nT (SD=17) respectively. The difference in the magnetic field levels is considered to reflect larger ground currents in Swedish houses. In offices the fields varied substantially. E fields were of the order of 40 V/m and 15 V/m in Sweden and Norway, while the B fields varied from some nT to over 1 /spl mu/T in both countries. Some reasons for the high office levels were safety ground errors and in-house magnetic field sources.

Time-variation of the soil gas radon concentration under and near a Swedish house

Although there have been several studies concerning the time variation of radon gas indoors, there have been few studies of the time variation of radon in the soil gas in the earth under or near an occupied house. Since the spring of 1993, the soil gas radon concentration was measured as a time series, at a depth of 1 m in three locations under and near a research house near Stockholm, along with indoor radon and environmental parameters. This report discusses the degree to which the house versus the weather interacts with and influences the soil gas radon concentration, and how much the influence of these two factors on the soil gas radon content varies with season and location. Strong correlations with barometric pressure and outdoor temperature occurred. The maximum soil gas concentrations occurred during the summer months and the minimum occurred during the winter, with the summer and winter levels differing by a factor of 2 to 3, depending on location. Changes in the 24-h averaged indoor radon concentration correlated well with the changes in the soil radon. The degree to which soil gas radon content may be used as an indicator of indoor radon contamination is discussed.

Strong ties or weak ties? Neighbourhood networks in a new perspective

The purpose of this article is to explore the structure and content of locally based neighbourhood networks. Instead of assuming that more and deeper neighbourhood relations are obviously better, we consider the role that social relations among neighbours actually plays in people's daily lives. The empirical results presented in this article are based on two case studies conducted in a Swedish housing area in 1983, and a follow up study in 1993. The results indicate that as long as we focus only on strong ties, the neighbourhood—in comparison to other arenas like family, relatives, work mates, and close friends—is of less importance for most people. But if we also consider the number of weak ties, defined as unpretentious everyday contacts, the local arena seems to be of significant importance for many people. The neighbourhood is proved to be a suitable arena for weak ties, because proximity and continuity, which promote the development of these kind of social contacts, are easily established in the vici...

Occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other air pollutants from the indoor application of water-based paints

The increased use of water-based paints (WBP) has changed exposure conditions for Swedish house painters but few exposure measurements have been made during the indoor application of WBP. The main aim of this study was to identify and quantify exposure, particularly to volatile organic compounds (VOC), during the indoor application of water-based paint. A secondary aim was to evaluate the efficacy of different sampling adsorbents for the measurement of the major VOCs emitted from WBP. Exposure measurements of VOCs, formaldehyde, ammonia, dust and metals were performed by personal sampling during the indoor application of WBPs commonly used in Sweden. VOCs were sampled on different sorbents, and were analysed by gas chromatography with a mass selective detector. The desorbtion efficiency of different sorbents was also determined and XAD-7 was found to be the most appropriate for glycols and glycol ethers. Exposure to VOCs, formaldehyde, ammonia and metals was low, compared with current Swedish permissible exposure limit values (PEL) but dust exposures were found in excess of the PEL of 10 mg m−3. A large proportion of the VOCs consisted of propyleneglycol (PG), diglycol ethers, Texanol (2,2,4-trimethyl 1,3-pentanediol monoiso-butyrate), and iso-butanol. The introduction of water-based paints has improved the work environment for most house painters by reducing the total VOC exposure, but VOC exposure has now shifted towards compounds which are more polar and which have higher boiling points.

Safety alerts

This study investigated whether an imposed dwelling size constraint in the Swedish housing allowance system induced recipients to move into smaller apartments and overcrowded conditions, i.e., an unintended consequence of a housing policy shift. To address this matter, this paper exploits a quasi-experimental dimension of the imposed dwelling size limit by applying the difference-in-difference estimator. Data for this study were extracted from the Swedish National Insurance Board’s database on housing allowance recipients, which comprises data previously unavailable for research. The estimation results suggest that this policy shift induced single-parent households living in rental housing to decrease their consumption of interior space, yielding a statistically significant increase in moves into overcrowded conditions, an effect that is even greater for single parents with one child than for those with two or more children. This effect runs directly counter to two long-term stated goals of the Swedish housing allowance system: (1) to induce households to move into better housing, thereby increasing their housing consumption, and (2) to prevent families with children from living in overcrowded conditions.

Measuring ventilation rates in the Swedish housing stock

A passive tracer gas method is applied to measure ventilation rates in a nation-wide indoor climate study of a statistical sample of the Swedish housing stock. The method and experimental design are described, together with the results and some experiences gained from the project. The evaluation and error analysis techniques are discussed from an example. Special attention is paid to the accuracy of the results and the probable causes and size of errors. It is shown that the ventilation flow rates could be estimated to an acceptable degree of accuracy. Distributions of ventilation rates in single- and multi-family buildings are presented and discussed. It is shown that actual ventilation rates in dwelling are generally low compared to the requirements in Sweden since 1975, especially in single-family houses. The average ventilation rate per occupant is however very similar in multi- and single-family buildings.

Experiences from mixed housing in Sweden

Experiences from mixed housing in Sweden

What determines rents in public housing in Sweden?

Rents are controlled in Sweden, and set by negotiations between the local organisation of tenants and landlords on the rental market within the use‐value system. The outcome of these negotiations, regarding rent level and rent structure, is studied. About 50 per cent of the variation across municipalities is explained by differences in physical and economic conditions. Other types of explanations, such as differences in managerial skill and various factors that influence the conditions in the rent negotiation process, seem to play an important role. It is also concluded that in some municipalities, there exist an age‐dependent rent difference that is not justified by the use‐value principle. Finally, the actual rents are compared to simulated market rents. We conclude that actual rents are lower than simulated rents in larger metropolitan areas as e.g. Stockholm, but is small or negative in other municipalities. The overall impression is a surprisingly good overall fit between actual rents and market simu...

Challenges in Comparing Radon Data Sets from the Same Swedish Houses: 1955-1990

We compare data sets from two different Swedish studies which included measuremem of the indoor radon concentration both in 1955 and in 1990 in 178 of the same houses. The purpose is to learn more about how the indoor radon concentration changes over a time scale of years in the same houses. Many sources of both systematic and random errors exist when comparing these types of data sets. Specific types of errors are due to uncertainties in the calibration of the epuipment, the influence of the weather, the time lengths of sampling, airing of some of the dwellings, and changes in ventilation rates. The data indicate a general increase of the radon concentration in the dwellings between 1955 and 1990, with a 1990/1955 ratio of the averages of 1.3. The average radon concentration in all alum shale houses, (where the building material is a source of radon) in 1990 versus 1955 is 204 ± 22 and 163 ± 23 Bq/m3 and in non-alum shale houses is 62 ± 8 and 42 ± 7 Bq/m3, respectively.

Stay and pay-privatisation of housing and the consumer

Something happened to housing consumption in the 1980s. From countries in the North and South and in the East and West, researchers reported and analysed profound changes in housing policy and consumption. These changes have had repercussions on tenure structure in the housing markets, resulting in a more or less pronounced polarisation of tenure (Malpass and Murie, 1990). General governmental subsidies on new production were discussed, decreased and considered 'out*. Schemes and ideas for privatisation of the public rental sector were 'in'. Individual ownership, riding the waves of decentralisation and deregulation of former central government responsibilities, were also part of this emerging picture (Van Vliet and Van Weesep, 1990). In Autumn 1991, after the general elections and the subsequent installation of a new government, this tide of change reached Sweden1 and the Swedish housing sector. These changes have continuously been discussed ever since. Tendencies towards privatisation can be observed in most industrialised countries, in both East and West. In general terms, privatisation connotes a decrease in the influence of the state on certain areas of economic activity. In practice, it entails a decrease in state regulation of or subventions to different activities. There is simultaneously an ideological/political and an economic aspect in the effort to promote privatisation. Housing is just one of several areas to be caught up in the movement. In fact, housing is hardly the most influential or important arena. In Britain, however, the sale of council housing to sitting tenants was a spectacular privatisation event. Its impact was enhanced by the subsequent conversion of one million dwellings from rental to owner-occupation and the ensuing debate on the consequences of privatisation for individual owners and for the housing market in general (Saunders, 1990; Forrest et al., 1990). The big schemes for privatisation focus on denationalisation of state-owned enterprises and their conversion into shareholding companies in the stock

Computing expected housing finance subsidy costs: An application to the current and proposed Swedish housing finance systems1

Computing expected housing finance subsidy costs: An application to the current and proposed Swedish housing finance systems¹

Urban segregation in Sweden housing policy, housing markets, and the spacial distribution of households in metropolitan areas

The postwar Swedish housing standard has been raised considerably. But there were also unforeseen and undesired side effects in the form of increasing segregation. Between 1965–1975 a great number of rental apartments were built in the periphery of the metropolitan areas. They originally received an overrepresentation of the poor, immigrants, social welfare recipients, and members of the working class. Today these areas face long distances, increasing deterioration and the lower socioeconomic level of their population is accentuated. The following wave of rebuilding in the central metropolitan areas also reinforced residential segregation. As the dwellings became larger and totally modern, the rents rose. Ownership forms often changed to tenant-owned dwellings which drove up the prices of tenant-owned dwellings. The older working-class population was replaced by wealthy families with middle-class backgrounds. The rebuilding in the city centers has in all likelihood been the motor in the overall relocations and migrations of the metropolitan populations during the 1980s. The movement of the middle-class towards the centers corresponds to an increased concentration of workers and various resource-weak groups on the peripheries. This analysis uses a new large micro data base integrating Swedish census and level-of-living survey data on individuals, households and neighbourhoods.

Not the Middle Way But Both Ways—Cooperative Housing in Sweden

(1992). Not the Middle Way But Both Ways—Cooperative Housing in Sweden. Scandinavian Housing and Planning Research: Vol. 9, Policy, Organization, Tenure - A Comparative History of Housing in Small Welfare States, pp. 87-104.

Windfall Gains on the Swedish Housing Market: The Effects of Queueing for a Cooperative Dwelling

The cooperative housing sector in Sweden consists of one market for new dwellings where the downpayment and rent is fixed, and where the dwellings are allocated through a queue, and one market for used dwellings, where all units are bought and sold freely with a transaction price determined by market conditions. As the transaction price usually exceeds the down‐payment, substantial windfall gains accrue to those achieving a dwelling through the queue. Regression analysis reveals that this ratio is on average nearly three. The ratio varies, however, depending on the local housing market situation. It is argued that the ratio is a better indication on the demand situation in the local housing market than is provided through information on the length of the queue at the municipal exchequer.A logit analysis is used to find out which households receive these windfall gains. It is shown that the probability of acquiring a dwelling through the queue, and thus capturing the windfall gain, is positively correlated with income and family size. The conclusion is that the cooperative queues do not have a redistributive effect on wealth in society, quite opposite the housing policy intention upon which the Swedish cooperative movement was founded.

The demand for housing in Sweden: Equilibrium choice of tenure and type of dwelling

Most studies of housing demand and tenure choice only identify two modes of tenure: owner-occupied one-family houses and rental apartments. Furthermore they are typically based on a cross section across all households. In this study we use recent Swedish data to overcome these weaknesses. We identify owner-occupied apartments (coop shares) as a third mode of tenure, and show that this should be treated separately. We also use information about the household's own assessment of its probability of moving during the next year. We demonstrate that it makes a large difference if likely movers are eliminated from the sample.

Evictions in the Welfare State - an Unintended Consequence of the Swedish Policy?

Despite a remarkable improvement in the general welfare of the Swedish population since the 1960s, the rate of housing evictions has rapidly increased in the same period This paper presents an analysis of factors associated with the growth in the eviction rate The main hypothesis models eviction rate growth as the unintended effect of Swedish housing policy, otherwise viewed as highly successful We also speculate about the relationship between homelessness and the evictions, suggesting that for Sweden the eviction rate and the prevalence of homelessness are negatively connected, i e. a high eviction rate is associated with a small number of homeless individuals. Data from two time periods, 1915-37 and 1950-81, are analyzed using ARIMA time series The period 1976-80 is, in addition, analyzed with pooled cross-section, time-series analysis.

Good dwellings for all: The case of social rented housing in Sweden

Abstract During the last decade many European countries have experienced a decline in the production of social rented housing, and there has also been an increase in sales of such dwellings. However, in Sweden social rented housing is still treated as an integral part of Social Democratic housing policy. According to this policy it should not be regarded as a residual tenure only to people in special need of housing. On the contrary, the official goal is to make it as efficient as other tenures in providing good dwellings for all. In order to popularise this tenure a number of measures have been introduced during the 1980s, such as diversification of the stock, decentralisation of management, increasing tenants’ influence and ambitious renewal programmes. Sales of municipal housing have been kept at a low level, although more sophisticated forms of privatisation have been observable. This paper reviews recent tendencies in social rented housing in Sweden, ending up with a discussion of its political basis...