Greedy landlords in the town where a Swedish social worker was murdered at a home for child refugees are hiking their rents by 1,450 per cent to provide accommodation for migrants.

They are renting properties to the council for temporary asylum shelters at vastly inflated prices compared to the open market in Molndal and exploiting Sweden’s migrant crisis, an investigation has found.

Alexandra Mezher, 22, a Lebanese Christian, was knifed to death in a frenzied attack as she worked alone on a night shift. Somali-born Youssaf Khaliif Nuur, claiming to be 15, has been charged with her murder. He is being held in a psychiatric hospital in Gothenburg.

Profit: Flats like this one, which usually cost around £500 a month to rent, in Molndal, Gothenburg, are being turned into migrant accommodation and rented to the council for up to 1,450 per cent increases

Margins: Companies are charging councils in Sweden up to £5,600 per month for studio flats to house asylum seekers

It has since emerged that the migrant housing provider Miss Mezher worked for, HVB Living Nordic, may face corporate manslaughter charges.

Despite the company making significant profits, Miss Mezher's colleagues say they had complained about being understaffed, and forced to work alone overnight, for over a year.

But HVB Living Nordic is just one of a number of companies operating in Molndal, a suburb of Gothenburg where the population of 60,000 has grown by 8,000 migrants in less than a year – 4,000 of whom are unaccompanied children.

With the huge influx in recent years, the council has been unable to provide housing themselves, and all but a fraction of the cash has gone to renting from private companies - at steep mark-ups.

MailOnline has found a number of studio flats on the rental market in Molndal priced from £335-£570 per month.

However, Molndal City Council is renting studio flats from private companies for £3,000-£4,500 per month - up to 680 per cent more.

Price hike: This flat is one of those offered to migrants in Molndal, Gothenburg. One of the accommodation providers rents a similar one for £245, then charges local authority £3,818 - a rent increase of 1,450 per cent

Luxury: In 2014, Molndal, where Swedish social worker Alexandra Mezher was killed, received £22.6million to provide housing for unaccompanied minors – the most state funding per capita than any town in Sweden

One such company in Molndal, StegetVidare, rents a 215sq feet studio flat for £245 a month, then charges the council £3,818 – a 1,450 per cent increase, an investigation by Expressen found.

Another studio flat highlighted in the investigation was being rented out to Molndal City Council for£5,640 of taxpayers’ money per month.

The owner of the flat said he charges the asylum seeker accommodation provider £737 per month – a profit of £4,903 a month, or 665 per cent.

These studio flats are 'transition housing', given to former unaccompanied minors once they are over 18 and have been granted asylum in Sweden.

'We are feeding big private companies, we have no other alternatives,' Birgitta Korpe, Molndal City Council's head care for unaccompanied migrant children, told Expressen.

'They can make extreme profits,' she added.

StegetVidare defended its 1,450 per cent profit by saying it provides more than basic accommodation for young new arrivals, adding that the charges also cover care and maintenance.

But Ms Korpe said the 'care' the company claimed they provided only amounted to checking in on the young migrants a few times a week.

Comparison: A similar property in Molndal is available on the private market for £335 per month, far less than what private asylum seeker accommodation providers are charging the city council

Affordable: This studio flat is available to rent for a fraction of what private companies charge the Swedish authorities for child migrant accommodation. Companies justify the vast expense by saying they provide care

Another private accommodation provider in the area is HVB Living Nordic, where Miss Mezher worked.

She died on Monday trying to save another boy who the knifeman was allegedly trying to attack. Miss Mezher was stabbed in the thigh and back. She was taken to hospital and died from her injuries.

The alleged attacker, a boy claiming to be a 15-year-old from Somalia, is being held in a secure psychiatric hospital in Gothenburg and has been remanded in custody until February 11.

Swedish prosecutors say HVB Living Nordic may be charged with corporate manslaughter and violating work environment law over the murder of Miss Mezher in her workplace.

The housing facility where she worked is home to ten migrants and refugees aged 14-17 who have all applied for asylum in Sweden without a parent or guardian.

Sweden’s Work Environment Administration is investigating whether HVB Living Nordic broke work environment laws for allowing Miss Mezher to work on her own with ten teenage boys.

Influx: Molndal in Gothenburg, with a population of 60,000 has seen its numbers swell by the arrival of 8,000 refugees in less than a year, 4,000 of which are unaccompanied minors

Murdered: Social worker Alexandra Mezher, 22, was knifed to death by a 15-year-old boy at a child asylum seekers' home after reportedly breaking up a fight between two residents

Winners: HVB Living Nordic, which runs the adolescent refugee home where Miss Mezher worked, reported profits 21.9 per cent in 2014 - but may face corporate manslaughter charges over her death

HVB Living Nordic is a private company paid by the local authority to provide housing and care for unaccompanied minors, which has been operating since late 2013.

In 2014, Molndal received £22.6million to provide housing for unaccompanied minors – the most state funding per capita than any town or city in Sweden.

That same year, HVB Living Nordic reported a profit margin of 21.9 per cent.

HVB’s chief executive is Patrick Sjögren, 46, former CEO of 5050Poker, an gambling website which filed for bankruptcy in 2012 after it emerged that the company had used players' money to cover losses.

Mr Sjögren’s company faces questions over how Miss Mezher to work alone overnight with almost a dozen vulnerable teenage boys.

Staff at the centre warned a year ago that due to lack of staff, ‘something serious will happen here’.

The warning came from a therapist in December 2014 - despite the fact that the facility had been open less than four months at the time.