“Bostadsrättsförening” can be translated into tenant-owner’s association, which roughly corresponds to the English term housing cooperative (see information specific to Sweden). As it is a form of housing/living that is not normally used outside of the Nordic countries, please take some time and read up on what this means.

As a guiding rule, the association is responsible for the building, its façade, and the system for heating, water, and plumbing as well as the garden. The monthly fee that the members pay to the association covers the costs for heating, water, waste handling, maintenance, loans and all other costs the association has. Note that electricity is not included in the fee. You must sign a private agreement with the network owner Ellevio and one of the hundreds of electricity providers in Sweden. One such example is Vattenfall.

High-speed internet and basic TV channels are included in the monthly fee.

The bostadsrättsförening is run by a board “styrelse”, consisting of a number of members of the association and is elected at the annual general meeting. The participants will also approve the annual report and decide on other matters of importance. The rules ”stadgar” of the bostadsrättsförening in detail regulate how the association is run and the division of responsibility between the owners (you), the association and the board.

The tenants living in the building, the members that make up the housing cooperative, are responsible for the interior, which gives a high degree of freedom to influence your style of living. However, all members are responsible to take good care of the flats. It is of utmost importance to not only have basic insurance for your flat ”hemförsäkring”, but also buy add-on insurance, called ”bostadsrättstillägg”. This relatively inexpensive add-on will cover big parts of costs that you will otherwise personally have to cover if there for example is a water leak in your flat.

Please understand that you do not own your flat. You own a part of the association brf Mörsaren 7 & 8, which owns the land “fastighet” and the building itself. Your contract includes the right to live in “your” flat. This means that you are not allowed to do whatever you see fit with the interior of your flat. Moving walls and making changes to plumbing, electrical and ventilation systems most of the time require written permission of the housing association. To be sure, always ask first to avoid problems and costly mistakes.

All communication from brf Mörsaren 7 & 8 is in Swedish. Everyone living in our building is responsible for reading and understanding the information sent out. If there is some information you do not understand, use Google Translate or some other translation service. If the information still is unclear, please contact the board and we will help explain.