It is about marketing brokers and housing - not the display signs that are temporarily placed outside a home before a screening. In Malmö, they are often placed at roundabouts and refuges by the brokerage firms and act as signposts to the homes.

It is with the police that the brokerage firms must apply for a permit for the signage.

- There is not a single brokerage firm in Malmö that has a permit. And this is a problem that has been present for several years and we have addressed this to the companies but nothing happens, ”says Liselotte Grant, head of the administrative law region south.

"No permit"

SVT News Skåne has been in contact with six real estate companies in Malmö and asked the question of how they relate to the signage in Malmö.

- We do not have a permit, but we have recently reduced the number of brokerage signs, says Håkan Sköld, CEO of the real estate agency ERA.

The police have a close dialogue with the City of Malmö about the brokerage companies' signs and at every meeting the problem is at the table.

Accessibility for the municipality's work is sometimes limited due to the brokerage signs.

- It may be about us cutting the grass and getting in the way. But the complaints we receive are mainly about the signs contributing to an ugly cityscape and that they are degrading, says Erik Löfvander, head of the public environment section of the Land Reclamation Department in Malmö.

Contribute to ugly cityscape

Håkan Sköld agrees with the argument for an ugly cityscape.

- People get angry and sad that the signs are debris, he says.

Then why do you keep doing this?

- We are already restrictive, but it may be that we end with it entirely in connection with this media attention, says Håkan Sköld.

The broker community regularly invites brokerage firms to a sustainable thinking regarding signage and in a survey it appears that seven out of ten brokers think that they should stop setting up brokerage signs.

- There is an internal discussion about whether we should continue or not and we are currently restrictive with our signage. But there is a clear annoyance about this and that they are on public land - we have great respect for that, says Mattias Larsson, CEO of Bjurfors Skåne.

At Erik Olsson Real Estate Agency, it is believed that the signs are an important complement to the sale of a home and that it is easier for potential buyers to find a display.

- At the same time, both we and other brokerage firms receive occasional complaints about the signage. We think it is important to sign in a clear way that does not disturb and disturb the traffic environment, says Johan Nordenfelt, Head of Information at Erik Olsson Real Estate Agency.

SVT News Skåne has seen brokerage signs in Malmö belonging to seven different brokerage firms. A real estate company set up 5,000 signs throughout Skåne in 2019.