Sweden's largest housing company, Heimstaden, wants tenants to pay for the company's runaway interest costs. The result can be sharply increased rents for the residents.
The company is now Sweden's largest rental housing company and Europe's second largest. The expansion that occurred when interest rates were low has come at a price, says Stig Westerdahl, professor of business administration at Malmö University. "They have an obligation to their shareholders. At the same time, it is a strange way to act – to take these risks," he says.