Residents Live in Vårberg's Chaos Houses: 'People Deserve Better'

The yellow facades of the apartment buildings in Vårberg, southern Stockholm, are patched with paint, giving the area an almost Eastern European architectural feel. A multi-story garage is half-demolished, with rebar protruding from concrete walls.

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People deserve better than this.

Anders Österberg, a Social Democratic city councilor, visited the area to see the misery firsthand. "People deserve better than this," he sighed. When Dagens Nyheter last reported on the buildings on Fjärdholmsgränd in March of the previous year, residents complained of finding needles and broken glass, exposed electrical wires, sewage odors, and barricaded escape routes. Washing machines were broken, floors were damaged, and windows were sealed with thick tape.

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It's been like this for many years. Enough is enough.

"It's been like this for many years. Enough is enough," tenant Rex Stålhammar said at the time. The Tenants' Association reacted strongly, with legal expert Jens Waldenström calling it "one of the worst properties" they had ever seen. On March 25, the association applied to the Rent Tribunal for mandatory management of the property for five years. However, the tribunal rejected the request. The owner, Norwegian developer Björn Aaserud, and landlord Elsafemhundranio KB were allowed to continue operations.

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one of the worst properties

A year and a half later, the problems remain evident. Sofia Iliadou led a tour of the basement, where most pipes in the ceiling were held together with duct tape. A lift without an inner door was known to get stuck. "I'm so used to it. When I see something that works well, I'm shocked," she said about the building. She has lived there since 1997 and finds it extremely difficult to get the landlord to fix anything. The ventilation system malfunctioned, and when it was supposedly repaired, something went wrong. "They just cheat. When they fixed the ventilation, it made my apartment smell instead," Iliadou said. In the laundry room, the door lacks a lock, and the door closer has detached, leaving the metal arm hanging freely at head height. One of the two machines is reported out of order, and its connected drainpipe has come loose.

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I'm so used to it. When I see something that works well, I'm shocked.