Today there has been a lot of focus on the Iraqi election in the Swedish media. When sitting in a warm and comfy flat in a very safe country it is hard to imagine how it must be to wait outside a polling station in Iraq.
Speaking about comfy flats, the system for renting or buying flats in Sweden is very different from in the UK. When I came to the UK I thought it amazing with al the buying and selling property programs on TV: “Location, location, location”, “Property ladder”, “To buy or not to buy”, you name it.
In Sweden it is not as common as in the UK to buy a flat and we do not have the expression “Property ladder “ in Swedish. In the Stockholm region it now starts to be more common to buy but still there are lots of good quality flats for hire, i.e. they are not like council houses in the UK even if the council owns them. Also, it is not as common in Sweden as in the UK to share a bed-sit or to have a private landlord. If you have a private landlord he/she usually owns the entire building (with several flats). To get a flat in Sweden, or at least in Stockholm or Uppsala, you either have to queue for it several years or you have to buy it, which is not cheap in this region. This is of course a problem if you come here to work for just some months.
I'm glad you mentioned the "Location, location, location" and "To buy or not to buy" shows, they are my absolute favourites (haven't seen Property ladder though). "No going back" is really a great show, did you see that one? Wonder if that show is just as popular in UK as it is in our home... :-) Cheers!
Postad av: Darlene den 31 januari, 2005, kl. $I:$M:$S