House rules

Name: Collective Sunshine
Address: Sundbyvägen 75, Spånga, 163 44, SE

No alcohol is allowed to be consumed or stored in the house or garden. What beverages you choose to consume outside Collective Sunshine is up to you. If you break this rule you might be asked to move out without a notice period.

Why?
Our house is located in a residential neighborhood with a kindergarten just across the street and an elementary school 200 meters down the street. In addition to not offending any neighbors we also want to create a safe space where consideration of others is a primary concern. Magnus also believes that alcohol causes a lot of harm in our world and he has thus chosen to ban its use in the house. Please be aware that this rule is a core foundation of the house and that there are no exceptions to it.
No animals are allowed in the house (including the cottage), not even for visiting.

Why?
We want to keep our house accessible also for people with allergies. Animals are allowed to visit in the garden though and we do have a fence around the property so that dogs etc. can run freely.
Don’t put up hooks, nails etc. on the walls in your room. Also be very careful with tape so that they don’t leave residuals when you have moved out. If you want to put something up on the walls please contact Magnus for approval first.

Why?
The reason for this rule is because many people only stay for a year or two the walls would be full of holes/hooks and tape residuals otherwise.
Live fire (candles etc.) is not allowed indoors. This includes scented candles and incenses; the smell is transported through the ventilation system to other parts of the house. We do have grills outside the house and you can make BBQ’s in them as long as they are placed at least 5 meters from the house wall and someone constantly watches them while they are lit.

Why?
Candles presents a huge fire risk, every year more than 24500 fires are reported to the insurance companies in Sweden and more than 100 people die in Sweden annually due to fires. We do have fire alarms, fire blankets by the stoves and fire extinguishers placed on each floor (and in both cottage rooms) but to further reduce risks, and out of compassion for your fellow housemates we ask you to not use fire inside and to never leave a fire unattended in the garden. Unfortunately we HAVE had fires starting in the house due to no supervision previously, so this rule is very strict nowadays!

Your room, rent and the deposit

Everyone pays an amount every month for common things which includes toilet-paper, cleaning products and some basic things in the kitchen. The amount is currently 50kr/month but can be either increased or lowered depending on the actual cost in the future. If you are here for less than 15 days in a month you pay half that amount for that month. If you stay for 3 days or less of a month you don’t need to pay for that month.

Why?
It makes sense to share things that everyone uses. The amount we pay is a majority vote decision and the same goes for regarding which products should be commonly bought.
Rent should arrive to Magnus bank account latest on the 27th the month before. If you pay the rent late you pay 50kr extra per day you are late (unless you have agreed otherwise with Magnus latest on the 25th – ask for more time on the Rent page in Campfire).

Why?
The reason for this rule is because most of the house related bills (interest payments on loans, electricity bills etc.) come at the end of the month, and if you pay late Magnus needs to keep a big buffer for those.
A one month deposit is held which is paid back after debts to the house have been paid (common things, cleaning etc.) and your room is left in the same condition as it was when you moved it (no new holes etc.). It is paid back after your last month's cleaning has closed (the 5th of the following month) and any charges from the room check are decided.

Why?
We try to keep the house in a nice state and we expect that you will help making sure it is.
Sharing your room is allowed, but then you need to pay 1000kr extra per month. The cottage rooms can not be shared. The same fee applies if someone is staying over with you for more than 14 days in a row.

Why?
The extra charge is to cover wear and tear and the additional utilities usage. The cottage rooms don’t have good enough ventilation and are considered too small for two people living long term (you are allowed to have guests staying over though). Anyone staying less than 14 days in a row is considered a guest and for that there is no charge!

Moving in/out rules

Magnus takes the final decision on who moves in, but feedback from current tenants is highly appreciated.
If you want to rent out your room second hand it needs to be for at least 30 days, and the new tenant needs to be approved by Magnus.
The lease starts with a two month trial period. If you or Magnus say in writing within the first 30 days that you don’t want to continue, the lease ends when the two months are over (or 30 days after your notice, if you are the one leaving and want to go sooner).
If neither of you says so within the first 30 days, the lease continues as an indefinite contract in which both parties have a 3 month cancellation time.
After the trial period moving out notifications are always counted from the 1st of the following month.
Notice of moving out should always be made in writing: in Campfire, or by e-mail to the address in your contract.
Living this close together only works when everyone feels safe and at home. If you seriously break the house rules, or the consideration for each other they build on, you might be asked to move out without a notice period. Some examples, not a complete list:
- alcohol in the house or garden,
- illegal drugs in the house or garden,
- crimes against the people living here or their home, such as taking their food or things, going into their room without being invited or refusing to leave it, threats, violence or harassment.
On the moving out day the room should be emptied and cleaned by 1 pm so that the new tenant can move in during the afternoon. Go through the checklist below in Campfire (Room check) and photograph the whole room before you leave; the admins are told, and may inspect the room before the next tenant comes. There is no second chance to clean afterwards: your photos, the admins' inspection and the next tenant's report are what count.
When you move in, check your room in Campfire. If it was not cleaned, report it with photos within 48 hours of getting the room: if the admins agree, you are paid 500 SEK for cleaning it, taken from the deposit of the person who left it. Report damage within 48 hours of the day you move in; damage found after that counts as yours when you move out.
Damage is charged at what the repair costs (less for something old); ordinary wear is never charged. The admins decide from the photos, and you can reply before your deposit is paid back. A room left uncleaned costs 500 SEK once, paid to whoever cleans it. A room that stood empty for more than a week is the house's to clean, and nobody is charged for what is found in it.
The admins' inspection can charge for damage, or 500 SEK for an uncleaned room paid to whoever cleaned it, but it never clears a room: the next tenant's check is the final one.
Changing rooms inside the house follows the same rules. What you are charged is added to your rent instead of being taken from the deposit, since your deposit moves with you to the new room.

Moving out: the room checklist

The room is empty: nothing of yours left, no rubbish
The floor is vacuumed and mopped, also under the bed and the furniture
Windowsills, shelves, the desk, skirting boards, the door and its handle are wiped
The wardrobe and the drawers are empty and wiped inside
The windows are clean on the inside and the outside
No tape, hooks or stains left on the walls
The lamps are dusted

Common sense rules

Be respectful and considerate with your housemates, visitors and the neighbors. It is ESPECIALLY important that we are considerate to our neighbors and keep good relations with them! If someone is sleeping (both in the evenings and mornings) try to be a bit more quiet so as not to wake them up for example. And also, if someone makes some noise… try to be understanding that this sometimes can happen… communication is key and mutual respect!
There has been times in the past when people who moved out from the house had a conflict with someone living in the collective. To keep the harmony and peace at home we thus ask that old housemates only visit the common areas of the house if they feel they have at least a neutral view towards everyone living in Collective Sunshine (including Magnus with family); to the extent that they know them. By a neutral view we here mean that the visitor does not convey negative views towards any of the people living here.
All people living in Collective Sunshine (including Magnus with family) should at all times be and feel welcome to spend time in all common areas of the house (kitchen, movie room, garden etc.) This means that any event you don’t want to have open for everyone needs to be held elsewhere.
Be careful with the house, furniture, kitchen equipment and other things in the house. Read the instructions about the kitchen (what you can’t put in the dishwasher etc.). There are some manuals in the bookshelf next to the stairs on the first floor where you can read up on how to use all important machines in the house.
Be conservative with heating, if you want to have your window open for more than a few minutes, please turn off your heating first. Only have your windows open in “ventilation” mode, otherwise cats, rats and other animals can get in (and on the top floor the windows are so heavy that the hinges “set” if you leave them open for longer times).
Make sure you ONLY use plastic and wooden cutlery in the frying pans. Most are with Teflon and metal will scratch them (and also release Teflon with is actually quite poisonous in food).
No sharp knives, Teflon or wooden cutlery in the dishwashers. These always need to be hand washed. Also larger cutting boards are good to hand wash since they “block” the dishwashers. Same thing goes for pots and pans, they take up too much space in the dishwashers so please hand wash.
Clean up after yourself in common areas and do the dishes directly after eating. Please also clean up after others if they didn’t do so… the next time perhaps you are in a hurry and would need the help of someone. If you see a dishwasher that is full, please start it, if it has clean dishes in it, please empty it. (Don’t overfill the machines and if both are running please do your dishes by hand so that someone else doesn’t have to clean up your mess.)
The cleaning system works so that you get paid 40 SEK for each 30 minutes you clean in the house, work in the garden, take out the recycling bins or otherwise work on things for the good of the house. You fill the schedule in by honor code. Everyone should help out at least one hour per month. If you haven’t done three hours over a rolling 3-month period you will get a warning. If you still haven’t done the 1 hour average after the 4th month you might be asked to move out.
Make sure the doors to the house always lock when you go in/out. This is also valid for the cottage rooms. In the summer other doors are sometimes open for ventilation purposes, if you don’t know for sure that someone else in the house is home and awake, close them when you leave. (We have unfortunately been the victims of theft before when the doors where not locked.)
There is a storage space next to the front door downstairs. There are six shelves, each room has 1/2 shelf. Please try to keep your things here that you can’t fit in your room. (There is also space for some skis/snowboards on the left side.)
You are allowed to have friends over both for dinner and to couchsurf with you. If possible host people in your room but using the movie room can also be an option. Try to give at last a few “open days” in between on the movie room though so that people feel free to use it as well. Anyone you bring over to the house is on your responsibility, and anything they damage or steal you are expected to replace or pay for. Also make sure your housemates are comfortable with the number of guests staying simultaneously; there will be extra usage of bathrooms etc.
Be extra careful to clean up the garden after a BBQ or dinner outdoors so that it looks nice from the street. We want to keep a good impression to our neighbors.
Make sure the garden chairs that have padding are under cover if there is a risk for rain and that the parasol is closed in case there is risk for wind (it flips over quite easily and could break).
Only use the laundry machines between 7-23 (the machines need to be finished by 11 pm) so that they don’t make noise at night for the people in the rooms next to the laundry room.
We have induction stoves which are very powerful. Try to always heat the pans up on “half strength” for a few minutes before you put on more heat. This prevents the coating of the pans to break and makes sure food doesn’t stick. This also goes for the stainless steel pans!
Don’t leave the kitchen when you have something on the stove, even if you have a timer that would turn it off later. For the ovens please make sure you are at home and awake when you use them.
Don’t leave your large towel in the bathrooms (they have a tendency to start smelling after a while). There is one hook in each bathroom, but it is intended to use only while you are in there.