Housing minister stymied in Stockholm flat hunt

Sweden's Minister for Public Administration and Housing Stefan Attefall has been left empty handed as he struggles to find an available apartment in Stockholm to meet his budget and needs, according to a report in the Metro newspaper.

• Prime Stockholm property changes hands (9 Apr 11)
• Riksbank rejects Swedish housing bubble fears (5 Apr 11)
• Flats for the needy given to the aristocracy: report (4 Apr 11)

"I have among other things looked at a one bedroom apartment in Vasastan," Attefall said of his hitherto unsuccessful attempt to find a home in the city notorious for an ill-functioning rental market and high property prices.

In the meantime the Christian Democrat has been forced to remain in an apartment intended for members of Sweden's Riksdag, a position he relinquished on becoming a minister in October 2010.

The taxpayer-funded apartments are intended for the exclusive use of current members, and his replacement in the Riksdag, Andrea Carlsson, has become a victim of Attefall's forlorn search for a suitable abode, Metro reports.

Carlsson ultimately tired of waiting, opting instead to invest in a one bedroom apartment in the Kristineberg area of the city.

Stefan Attefall is however not alone in overstaying his welcome in a Riksdag apartment, the newspaper reports, with Christian Democrat party leader and social minister Göran Hägglund also currently remaining in his studio near Munkbron in the city centre.

While Göran Hägglund has been a minister since 2006, his press secretary declined to comment on why he has not relinquished his Riksdag apartment.

The stock of apartments are intended to ensure that Riksdag members have somewhere to stay when on business in the city and are allocated according to the division of mandates.

René Poedtke at the Riksdag property unit told Metro that the apartments are however handed over to parties to allocate.

"How these are allocated is in the first instance an internal party issue," he said.