We make a difference – come and make your voice heard!

Important information! (June 2025)

Summary
Over the past two years, HUS has managed to negotiate a lower rent increase for student tenants at Uppsalahem, Rikshem, Heimstaden and SUSbo (tenants of Housing Office are not included in our negotiations) compared to the regular apartments negotiated by the other tenants’ association, Hyresgästföreningen. These landlords do not like this. Therefore, they have chosen to terminate the agreements on negotiation procedure (förhandlingsordningar) with HUS (the agreement that makes it possible for us to negotiate for you) and intend to try to write an agreement with Hyresgästföreningen instead. In their information texts, they write that Hyresgästföreningen has “greater negotiating power” compared to us and call us a “smaller local organisation”. This is really distorting the truth! We have represented tenants in student housing for over 30 years, are Sweden’s second largest tenants’ association as we represent about 7000 households, and have in recent years had greater negotiating power for student housing in Uppsala than Hyresgästföreningen.
The truth is that it is rather the landlords who want to increase their negotiating power by switching to another tenants’ association. These landlords have agreed with Hyresgästföreningen on an arbitration clause or other arbitration instance for cases where they do not reach an agreement in the negotiations. This allows the landlords to negotiate frivolously with Hyresgästföreningen and then refer the matter to arbitration, which in most cases leads to higher rent-increases than the tenants’ organisation considers reasonable. HUS has refused to sign such arbitration agreements in order to keep the negotiations serious and to better protect the interests of the tenants. Now, the landlords want to take that away from us students!
HUS fights for the rights of student tenants and has contested the terminations of our agreements on negotiation procedure!

Information about the issue
Hyresgästföreningen Uppsala Studentbostäder (The Tenant Association for Uppsala Student-housing, HUS) has for over 30 years represented students in tenant issues (currently ca 7000 apartments and corridor rooms) – including in rental negotiations and safeguarding their interests in general. In this way, students who have lived in student housing have been represented and have had influence over their housing situation. Now all landlords we negotiate with – Uppsalahem, Rikshem, Heimstaden and the Stiftelsen Ultuna Studentbostäder (SUSbo) – have joined forces and want to stop the students’ influence by terminating their agreements on negotiation procedure (förhandlingsordningar) with HUS.

HUS’s opinion on this is that:
– it is a shame that the landlords are cooperating to counteract students in this way.
– it will lead to students in Uppsala having less influence and higher rents.

Therefore, we at HUS have appealed this termination to the rent tribunal (hyresnämnden), and hope that they will give back the students’ influence. We are especially disappointed with the municipally owned Uppsalahem, which has joined forces with the other landlords to counteract students in Uppsala.

What is an agreement on negotiation procedure (förhandlingsordning)?
To change the rent (e.g. increase it when costs increase), landlords must negotiate the rent or have it decided in court (the rent tribunal, hyresnämnden). In order for landlords to not have to negotiate with each individual tenant, a tenants’ association can be given a mandate to negotiate the rent on behalf of the tenants. This is done by the tenants’ association and the landlord signing an agreement on how the negotiation procedure should be conducted. This agreement is called agreement on negotiation procedure (förhandlingsordning). The tenants choose representatives who then negotiate the rent on their behalf.

Why do the landlords want to terminate the agreements on negotiation procedure?
The law regulating the rent negotiation procedures was recently amended so that if both the tenants’ association and the landlords agree, in the event of disputes during negotiations, the matter can be decided by an arbitrator (skiljeman) instead of in the rent tribunal. HUS did not agree to this as it puts us in a worse negotiating position. Thanks to this, it resulted in that students received a slightly lower rent increase during the recent rent increase compared to the regular rental apartments that had an arbitration clause.

What you as a resident of the affected areas can do
HUS has currently initiated the process to maintain the agreements on negotiation procedure. Residents of student housing with any of the four landlords can strengthen HUS by getting involved in their local tenants’ associations. If the landlord asks you to sign anything regarding the agreements on negotiation procedure, we urge you not to do so! Contact HUS or the legal advice department (rådgivningen) at Hyresgästföreningen (HUS cooperates with Hyresgästföreningen, our sister-association, and our members receive advice from them too!)

---