In 2017, Anette Ahlrot moved to a senior residence on the outskirts of Malmö. Before that, she lived in the central parts of the city and experienced that it was messy and noisy both inside and outside the house.
– I wanted to live peacefully and safely with people about my age with about the same lifestyle, says Anette Ahlrot.
In order to rent an apartment in the senior housing, two townhouses with six apartments and owned by the municipal company Stadsfastigheter, it was required that you were over 55 years of age, had a maximum of two and had no children living at home.
For Anette, it fit like a glove – until the peace was broken around four years ago.
“Feeling overrun”
In a short time, Anette Ahlrot’s two older neighbors died, and two apartments became empty.
– Then we who lived there thought that new 55-plus people would move in, but oh how we were deceived, says Anette Ahlrot.
According to Anette, the apartments were empty for a year or so – and then two homeless families with children moved in.
– Suddenly, our accommodation had been converted to something other than a senior accommodation, without us being told anything. I felt run over, and so did my neighbours, says Anette Ahlrot.
Anette describes how the calm was replaced by chaos with screaming children, loud music and a messy laundry room.
– I was angry as a bee. I called my landlord and asked what they meant by this.
Turned to several agencies
The two apartments where the families with children have moved in have been rented by Stadsfastigheter to the Labor Market and Social Administration, which in turn placed the families with children at the address.
After turning to several places for help, Anette contacted the Rental and Tenancy Board in Malmö last autumn. She explained her situation, and felt for the first time that someone was listening to her.
– It felt fantastic, here were people who understood what I said and who didn’t lose their logic.
The Rent and Lease Board took on the case, and barely a week ago the verdict came.
“The municipality’s responsibility – not mine”
The municipality has defended its decision to place the homeless families with children in the senior housing by saying that there was a housing shortage in the municipality in 2020, and that they can use their apartments however they want.
In its assessment, however, the Rental and Tenancy Board writes that “an accommodation that is designated senior housing also conveys a feeling that the question is about an accommodation that is calm and safe. In the concept of senior housing, it must generally also be considered that it is housing for elderly people who want people their own age as neighbours’.
The board further writes that a landlord who wants to change the terms of his agreement, in this case to change the type of accommodation, must notify the tenant of the change.
Stadsfastigheter must now terminate its agreement with the Labor Market and Social Administration. Anette Ahlrot is satisfied with the verdict.
– I am very happy that there are rational people who wanted to put it right again.
Families with children “the municipality’s problem”
The ruling means that the homeless families with children have three months to move out. Where they should go is a question for the municipality, Anette believes.
– This is senior housing, that’s what I signed the agreement for. It is the municipality’s responsibility to place them in the right place, not mine.
Rebecca Bichis, head of department at the Labor Market and Social Administration, is not aware of the committee’s decision, but believes that there is no problem in solving two apartments that fall away.
– I have never been involved in a case like this before. But connected to criticism from neighbors, it is very rarely appreciated that we establish ourselves somewhere in the city, connected to the vulnerable target group that we work with, says Rebecka Bichis to Home & Rent.