New article on Private Rental Sector Growth and Socioeconomic Residential Segregation in Sweden

In her new study, "The uneven geography of private rental sector growth and socioeconomic residential segregation in Swedish municipalities (1994–2019)", Tramosljanin explores how the expansion of the private rental sector (PRS) across Sweden from 1994 to 2019 has unevenly affected where people of different incomes live—known as socioeconomic residential segregation. Using detailed government register data and mapping techniques, she shows that PRS growth acts like a financial shift in renting, changing who lives where and how neighborhoods sort by wealth.

The key takeaway is a stark urban-rural split. In smaller, less urban areas like rural municipalities, small towns, and commuter spots near them, growing private rentals go hand-in-hand with more segregation. This happens as public housing shrinks and becomes a last resort for lower-income groups—a process called "residualisation". But in bigger cities and medium-sized towns, it's the opposite: private rental growth actually links to less segregation. This could be due to tight housing markets trapping people in place or strong local housing systems that hold up better.

These insights reveal how housing finance works differently depending on location, sparking discussions on fair access to housing in Sweden's welfare system and decentralized policies.

The article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2026.2668654

Ana Tramosljanin is a PhD student at the Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University.