Brf Geringslådan is short for Bostadsrättsföreningen Geringslådan. The Swedish term of ’Bostadsrättsförening’ can be translated into Tenant-owner’s association which roughly corresponds to the English term of Housing cooperative (see also information specific to Sweden). A Bostadsrättsförening is a form of living and ownership in between a rental flat and an owned house. As it is a form of housing/living that is not normally used outside of the Nordic countries, please take some time and read up on what this through the above links.
As a guiding rule the association is responsible for the building and its façade, together with the system for heating, water and plumbing. The monthly fee that you pay to the association covers the costs for these basic services, and all other costs the association has. Note that electricity is not included in the fee and you need to have a private deal with both the network owner Ellevio and one of the hundreds of electricity companies in Sweden. One example of such a company is Vattenfall.
Broadband, a basic assortment of TV channels and telephony (not the minute fee) is included in your fee to the housing association. You do however need to contact our IT provider (page in Swedish) and sign a deal with them to get the needed equipment before moving in.
The Bostadsrättsförening is run by a board, consisting of a number of people living in the building and elected a yearly which all tenants are invited to during the spring. The yearly meeting will also vote on other matters of importance for the building and Bostadsrättsförening. The rules (Swedish ”Stadgar”) of the Bostadsrättsförening controls in details the devision of responsibility between the owners (you), förening and the board – see the page with our Stadgar.
The tenants living in the building, the members that makes up the housing cooperative, are responsible for the interiors which gives a high degree of freedom to affect your style of living (without all the exterior maintenance that comes with owning your own house). It however also gives you a high degree of responsibility to take care of your own apartment! It is also of utmost imporance that you not only have an insurance for your apartment (in Swedish called ”Hemförsäkring”) but you must also have an add-on insurance needed only if you live in a Bostadsrättsförening, this add-on is called a ”Bostadsrättstillägg”. This add on will cover big parts of costs that you will otherwise personally have to take, if there for example is a water leak in your apartment.
Please note that you do not own your appartment, you own a part of the association which includes the right to live in a certain appartment. This means that you are not free to do whatever you see fit with the interiors of your appartment, moving walls and making changes to systems such as plumbing, the electrical and ventillation may not be allowed without the written permission of the housing association. If you are not sure what is allowed or not, always ask first to avoid costly misstakes.
All communication sent out from Brf Geringslådan, including this webpage, is in Swedish. It is the responsibility of everyone living in our building to read and understand the information sent out. If there is some information you do not understand, please first try Google Translate or some other translation service. If you still do not understand, please do not hesitate to contact the board (in Swedish ”Styrelse”) and we will do our best to explain the information to you.
