With great disappointment we have to inform that our landlord Eroom Properties is forcing us to immediately shut down our meeting place and all of the association’s activities in the premises at Västanforsgatan.

This means that we have to cancel all social activities including: asylum advice, people’s kitchen, freeshop and food bank, all planned cultural events, meetings and other activities in the premises as from today, Monday, May 15.

The reason behind the property owner’s actions is a newsletter we sent out and shared on Facebook last year in which we expressed some critique against the top-down organization of the NGBG street festival as well as concerns that the investments in the area in the long run will drive out many of the associations, small businesses and other low income tenants from the street, in line with the gentrification of the area.

Eroom’s owner Kwame Moore informed us in an email that he regards our text as putting ourselves in opposition with him as the property owner. He declared that he is immediately cancelling all cooperation with us and that he aimed to start working for us to leave the premises which is what he has done since then.

The time since September has been tough with different kinds of pressure and threats, a retroactive rent rise of half a million crowns and a shock raise of the rent for this year which we have contested. In written form, at meetings and through our lawyer, we have tried to find a constructive solution so we can carry on with our activities in the premises and at the same time engage in the public debate without being exposed to repression.

In March, someone reported us anonymously to the City Planning Office (Stadsbyggnadskontoret, SBK) who carried out a site visit and then concluded that there was no building permit for gathering and association activities. After its site visit, SBK required Eroom to apply for the building permit. But Eroom informed that they did not intend to do so. Instead they have prohibited us from continuing any of the association’s activities until we have ourselves applied for and received the building permit.

SBK informed later that it is not enough to hand in the application for the building permit and get the permission to start adapting the buildings (which is the general procedure) but the whole process should be carried out and the final permission to re-start activities should be given. This process can take a very long time and cost a lot of money.

We have rented the two premises at Västanforsgatan from Eroom for the purpose of using them in accordance with the contract for the association’s activities and for events and have carried out those activities in the premises for more than seven years. All this time, we have been led to believe that the premises were approved for the activities as agreed in accordance with the contract with the property owner. Eroom has known about the requirement for a building permit and that it was their responsibility to act in this matter. At the same time, they have encouraged us to continue our activities and also urged us not to contact the City Planning Office.

Today we carry out activities which reach out to a lot of people who will be seriously affected by our closing down. Last week for example, we served more than 100 portions food every day in our people’s kitchen and handed out 300 items of clothes and hygiene articles from our freeshop.

The activities at Västanforsgatan are run completely without state contribution and are dependent on voluntary donations and the support of the people. We are in a situation where we cannot run our activities in the premises until the process is finalized. At the same time we have to pay the rent and have the responsibility of applying for the building permit and the whole building permit process ourselves. Without activities, we cannot pay the rent and as our property owner wants to get us out of the premises, there is a big risk that this will give him the reason he needs to be able to force us to leave.

We do not exactly know how to continue at this point but we are discussing it at length within the organization. It goes without saying that we want to continue to arrange cultural events and carry on with our social work and we are still hopeful that we will find a solution. Now we need Malmö’s support more than ever!

We continue fighting! Support Kontrapunkt – together we are strong!



