Relocation Group Sweden

Accessing Sweden - Home of Absolut Vodka and IKEA

As in all international moves there will be a few frustrating challenges involved when transferring families abroad. Moving to Sweden is no exception. It is therefore positive to see that after relocating to Sweden, going through the phases of culture shock, that most expats settle down fairly content, and in some cases they settle in so well, they end up going “local”. Their reasons are of course many;
 
Swedes in general speak English very well. You don’t need to learn the language, although we do recommend it as it enables you to reach a better understanding of the Swedes and their culture. The country has few material problems and functions well. Adult literacy, life expectancy, purchasing power, educational standards, etc puts Sweden far up on the international lists.
 
So what are the challenges we face within the relocation industry here? Compared to many of our colleagues in other countries, we find that handling immigration into Sweden today is not a big issue, providing the documentation we have asked for is in order. Depending on where you are coming from, the process takes anywhere between four and eight weeks. We can even open up bank accounts for our clients before they arrive in Sweden, if required. Our experience is that in this well organised and structured country practical issues are fairly easy to handle.
 
So let us focus on one of the bigger challenging issues apart from cultural issues people face when moving to Sweden
 
Housing is probably the most difficult issue. When looking at apartments in Stockholm for instance, there is a fifteen-year waiting list for acquiring a first hand lease agreement!  As you can understand from this it’s almost impossible to get a first hand rental lease in Stockholm so we are in general forced to work with sub-lease agreements. The landlords, in the majority, are private Swedes leaving for assignments abroad. Many are  very, very careful, often refusing to rent to another private person. They tend to only consider renting out their homes if the company will sign the lease or if the company is willing to give the landlord a written guarantee. The guarantee ensures the landlord that the company will assume full responsibility should the employee not fulfil his/her obligations as a tenant.
 
Houses are normally privately owned. There are virtually no companies buying houses to rent out as a business. Once again we are dealing with private home owners leaving their homes for assignments elsewhere. The standard of the homes can vary greatly. It is not required for a landlord to have the apartment or house newly painted when renting out the property. Many bigger homes will only have one full bath. The newer homes may have a second bath/shower room. All kitchens are fitted with refrigerators, stoves, etc. and house owners will provide the tenant with gardening tools and a lawnmower. In apartment buildings you will either have a laundry room where you book a time to do your laundry or a washer (/dryer) in the apartment.
 
It is important to note that we do not have very many rental agencies in Sweden. This has forced relocation companies here to advertise and keep a housing database of their own. For many this means that we combine the job as a property finder as well as that of a relocation consultant. This is not very positive, but as things stand today it is the only option if we are to provide enough homes to show in a home search. Relocation Group operates a fixed price for Home Search, which guarantees our clients no surprises when it’s time to pay. We also don’t charge the landlords any fees for the services that we provide for them to ensure that we are not sitting on both sides of the table when negotiating rental agreements. Our price always includes costs that normally a rental agency would cover, such as advertisement, drawing up lease agreements, etc unless otherwise agreed.
 
There are of course other issues such as day care and schools for the children but without a place to live who will move here?
 
Ase Lofgren Gunsten is the Managing Director of Relocation Group Sweden, www.relocationgroup.se