Akelius Residential halts renovation strategy after UN scandal
Akelius Residential halts renovation strategy after UN scandal Controversial corporate landlord Akelius Residential will no longer focus on renovating buildings after facing a backlash from the United Nations and its tenants. It plans to cut construction staff by 400 by the end of 2022 and focus on new builds, as well as upgraded properties. It commented that the good times for upgrading properties that require extensive renovations are over. Akelius still targeted doubling its portfolio of properties over the course of the next decade. The Sweden-based company manages a total of 44,000 rental apartments. In May the UN accused the firm of breaching the international human rights of its tenants by having them live in poor conditions, aggressively increasing rents and threatening evictions. In countries with rent controls the company was accused of renovating properties with the end goal of hiking rents. The UN communication was sent to the governments of Canada, Germany an