Ekonomiskt bistånd vid hyresskulder

Abstract

Financial aid from the social services due to rent arrears

The starting point for this study is landlords’ applications to the county bailiff, threatening individuals with eviction from housing due to rent arrears. Various workplace standards of importance for assistance from the social services are investigated. The study shows that financial aid plays a limited role in relation to evictions, and the interpretation of the rights provision in the Social Services Acts displays a considerable span. Decisions on aid are based on everything from an individual needs assessment to a group-oriented and retrospective behavioural assessment. The Social Services Act is, in practice, exclusively perceived to be a framework law, rather than a rights law, that enables this breadth of interpretation.