Local politicians favour their own areas in building permit decisions

Municipal politicians have the power to approve or reject building permits within their municipality. These decisions are crucial in shaping the development of different areas. Decisions to approve new apartment buildings in a particular area are often unpopular as they can lead to worsened lighting and traffic conditions, and increase pressure on municipal services such as childcare and healthcare.

A new study, based on data from three election periods across all municipalities in Sweden, reveals that municipal politicians are less inclined to approve building permits for new multi-family homes in the areas where they themselves live.

To conduct a comparative analysis, the researchers utilised municipal elections where the left or right bloc won with a narrow margin—indicating that both blocs had an almost equal chance of winning or losing when the election was close. After a typically close election, around 10 per cent fewer multi-family houses are approved in areas where more politicians from the ruling majority reside.

“It is clear that politicians place new, unpopular building projects in areas where they do not live themselves,” says Olle Folke, Professor of Political Science at the Department of Government and one of the researchers behind the study.

The researchers behind the study are concerned by the results, as local inequality could affect the living environment across the entire municipality. When politicians avoid placing new, potentially unpopular building projects in their own residential areas, other, less affluent parts of the municipality may be more adversely affected. This pattern could lead to increased inequality within the municipality, where already privileged areas are protected, while other areas are burdened with more new building projects.

The study also shows that both right- and left-wing politicians often live in relatively affluent residential areas.

“We see a clear pattern when it comes to the income levels of the residential areas where our politicians live. Municipal politicians are more likely to reside in neighbourhoods with high levels of education and income,” says Matz Dahlberg, Professor of Economics at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF).

Politicians from the right bloc are also less likely to live in areas with low-income earners and foreign-born residents, compared to politicians from the left bloc.

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