On Monday, the agreement was signed between the Migration Board and the municipality, which means that 105 apartments in Stålhagen in Hultsfred and 45 apartments in Virserum will be gradually emptied of asylum seekers. At the end of 2020, the Migration Board will not have any residences left in the municipality.

Surprise

For Hultsfred, who has long sought a reduction in the number of asylum seekers placed by the Migration Board in the municipality, the message came as a surprise:

- Yes, we didn't think they would leave altogether. We wanted to reduce significantly and were met by understanding. We think we have done ours now, ”says Lars Rosander (C), municipal council.

Moved to other accommodation

The total of about 580 people living in the apartments today will be placed on other asylum homes in Kalmar County or in the south region. Some will have to move relatively immediately, however, families with children will stay until school term ends.

- This is not an extraordinarily large settlement. What is a little unusual is that the settlement takes place in the same municipality, and we do this only in cases where we have a good dialogue with the municipality and it fulfills a function for each party, says Jennie Sörman, section manager at the Migration Board region south to SVT.

Areas should be refurbished - and demolished

The fact that the Migration Board now completely leaves Hultsfred means that in the long term, the municipality will be able to offer more housing to everyone in the housing queue, says the municipal council Lars Rosander. He also believes that the conditions for working with integration in the municipality will be improved.

- Those who have been granted a permanent residence permit and who want to work here, they want them to stay in our municipality, he says.

Plans are now in place to both renovate and demolish parts of the portfolio that the Migration Board has leased.

- They have been renting them since the eighties, so there is a fairly extensive renovation need. The housing company will be looking at how to handle it in the future, says Lars Rosander.