Hyresvärdens underhållningsskyldighet/The land lords obligations
Hi!I have question that i have been living in my 1st hand apartment since 10 years,It is very old apartment kitchen and wardrobes are 50 years old so it breaks very easily so it is much broken now and i tried to fix that but it became more destroyed so my question is that can landlord ask me for money to fix new all kitchen and wardrobe as both kitchen and wardrobes are 50 years old what the law say in that.
Lawline svarar
Hello and thank you for contacting Lawline with your question!
I understand your question as you wish to know what kind of obligation are applied to the land lords in Sweden. I will try to answer your question below.
Applicable law
Chapter 12 Jordabalk (1970: 994) is usually called the Rent Act and deals with, among other things, the landlord's obligation to maintain the premises. The lease often contains a number of conditions and the lease deals with only a few, thus the lease itself is a complement to the law.
The landlord's maintenance obligation according to law
According to chapter 12. Section 15 JB (the Land Code), the landlord shall during the rental period keep the apartment in such condition as specified in ch. § 9 JB, unless otherwise agreed. I 12 kap. Section 9 states that the apartment must be in usable condition. It states that the landlord must provide wallpapering, painting and other usual repairs at reasonable intervals due to the deterioration of the apartment through age and use. This applies unless otherwise agreed.
Reasonable time intervals for maintenance of the apartment
The question then is what is meant by reasonable time intervals. The time for normal wear and tear varies from apartment to apartment depending on, among other things, the size of the apartment and how many people live in the apartment. The perception of what are reasonable time intervals differs somewhat, but in general you can draw the line somewhere at 14 years.
If the landlord refuses to maintain the apartment, such a measure can be sanctioned by e.g. a district court judgment combined with a fine or through the rent tribunal.
Summary answer
According to chapter 12. Section 15 JB, the landlord must therefore maintain the apartment at reasonable time intervals. The maintenance obligation and what is usable condition can, however, be agreed on in the lease agreement and the law therefore does not provide any final guidance. Depending on what your rental agreement says, it is difficult to give a concrete answer to the question, but a hint is that the landlord should take care of painting and wallpapering at approximately 14-year intervals.
This means that not maintaining the closets should be a breach of the land lords obligations, considering that no update of the apartments equipment has happened during the latest 50 years. I would advise you to take contact with your land lord to resolve this problem.
In the event of a refusal to maintain the apartment, you can apply for an injunction that the landlord must maintain the apartment by contacting the rent tribunal or the district court.
Hope you got clarity in your question and do not hesitate to contact me if you have any thoughts!
