Mariehus housing queue

Mariehus AB is Mariestad Municipality's municipally owned housing company and lets around 1,600 apartments in Mariestad and Ullervad. The stock ranges from ordinary rentals in larger apartment buildings to smaller multi-family houses, terraced houses and semi-detached houses with their own garden, and in the centre there is senior housing from age 55. Vacant parking spaces and garages are published on the website, but only existing tenants can rent them. Registering is free. There is no annual fee.

The queue runs on points. As soon as you register as a customer you start collecting points, and when a home is listed on the Torget marketplace it stays up for five days. You register interest, at most three at a time. The five applicants with the most points who registered interest get an offer and a viewing, and among those who meet the basic rules: 18 or over, no rent arrears, no payment defaults, good references and income that covers the rent. The contract goes to whoever has the most points and says yes. A guarantor can top up a weak income, but cannot replace missing income or cover debts. You can accept three offers at the same time. If the first five say no, the offer moves on to the next five. It is not a municipal housing agency with a numbered place, but the points count from the day you join. That is why registering early is worthwhile, even before you start looking.

Mariehus publish no average queue time. How long it takes depends on the area, the size of the home and how many applicants with more points apply for the same one. They publish no exact figure in months. To keep your points you need to log in to Mina sidor at least once a year, or both the points and the account are deleted if you do not already live with them. When you are allocated a home the points reset and you are blocked from registering interest for nine months. You collect new points during the block, but you cannot apply until it lifts, and the policy is that you should have lived there for a year before you switch within Mariehus. If you turn down five homes within twelve months you are blocked for six months. If you do not reply three times you are blocked for twelve months.