1. Conditions for apartment rental allocation from Bjarg Housing Foundation:
1.1. Only members who have been active in the labor market and are in a union within ASI or BSRB for at least 16 out of the last 24 months are eligible for an allocation. Members who are temporarily unemployed for up to 12 months due to maternity/paternity leave or illness maintain their rights. Students who are also active in the employment market, having an independent right to apply for apartments from student housing foundations according to their rules, do not have a simultaneous right at Bjarg during their studies, notwithstanding article 4.10.
1.2. Only those whose income and assets are below certain limits at the beginning of the rental period can be allocated housing, as defined in Act No. 52/2016 on general apartments and Regulation on state and municipal initial contributions, housing ownership institutions, and public housing. In order to include a cohabiting individual in an application, the parties must be married or common-law partners.
1.3. The rent payment burden shall not be more than 25%-30% of the tenant’s total income, including housing benefits, child benefits, and child support.
1.4. Applicants must be 18 years of age when registered on the waiting list.
1.5. Applicants must be confirmed on Bjarg’s waiting list in order to apply for an apartment.
2. Waiting list registration and application
2.1. Upon registration on the waiting list, the applicant must pay a membership fee according to the listed rates. The applicant must reconfirm annually the waiting list registration by paying a membership fee according to the listed rates. These fees are non-refundable. The applicant’s status on the waiting list becomes active as of him/her paying the membership fee. If the membership fee is not paid every 12 months the applicant is removed from the waiting list.
2.2. Registration on the waiting list takes place electronically on the Foundation’s website, www.bjargibudafelag.is, through "My pages" (Mínar síður).
2.3. Any information concerning registration on the waiting list and data collected for allocation are confidential and both Bjarg employees and the Complaints Committee are bound by professional confidentiality according to article 8.
2.4. Applicants are responsible for meeting all general conditions for allocation according to article 1. Applicants are also responsible for providing and registering correct and adequate information. Bjarg is not responsible if an incorrect e-mail address, mailing address or telephone number is entered, which may cause a waiting list registration to lapse and the applicant to be removed from the waiting list. Bjarg does not confirm items such as income or asset limits, trade union membership or Registers Iceland records until the time of allocation. The application shall indicate whether the applicant wishes to have a pet or whether s/he wishes to be in a building where pets are prohibited.
2.5. The Foundation has two waiting lists: One for new tenants and one for those who are already Foundation tenants but wish to transfer (transfer list). In order to be eligible for registration on the transfer list and to request transfer a tenant must have lived in Bjargs housing for at least two years and meet all general conditions for allocation according to article 1.
2.6. The lowest number on both lists determines allocation, subject to the number of rooms and priority, indicated in article 4. New applicants and tenants requesting transfer are allocated new apartments proportionally, four to one. See further article 4.8.
2.7. Waiting list registrations are sorted according to their submission date and become active when confirmation payment has been received.
2.8. However, there will be an initial exception, in that registrations received until and including 31st July2018, will be entered in a pool and applicants ordered by drawing lot.
2.9. Registering on the waiting list is not sufficient for the allocation of an apartment the applicant must apply for a specific type of apartment when the Foundation advertises apartments for allocation.
2.10. Apartment application
When apartments are free for application, applicants on waiting lists receive an e-mail with further information on size, location, etc. Application is made electronically on the Foundation’s website, www.bjargibudafelag.is, through "My pages" (Mínar síður). At that point the applicant authorizes Bjarg, in case of an allocation, to obtain necessary information from Registers Iceland, the trade union and the Directorate of Internal Revenue. The applicant is responsible for meeting all general conditions according to article 1 and that the type of apartment applied for suits her/his family size, cf. article 5 on the number of inhabitants per apartment.
2.11. Transfer of a seat/place on a waiting list is not permitted. An exception is made when an applicant dies, then the remaining spouse may take the position of the diseased on the waiting list, provided they were married or registered cohabiting partners for at least 2 years prior to death. Furthermore, a divorce may allow for transfer of a seat/place on a waiting list to a spouse, provided the spouse meets the general allocation rules according to article 1, and that both parties sign the transfer.
2.12. All communications between the applicant and Bjarg are electronic to the e-mail address entered by the applicant. In case the applicant has objections to Bjarg’s assessment, s/he must submit a written objection to Bjarg’s Appeals Committee urskurdarnefnd@bjargibudafelag.is, within seven days of receiving confirmation of an assessment from Bjarg or of the time of allocation.
2.13. Registration is rejected in the following instances and the applicant shall be informed of the reason for the rejection:
2.13.1. A registration may be rejected if it is considered inadequate in some way or if information contained therein is proven false.
2.13.2. If the applicant does not meet the conditions of article 1.
2.13.3. If the applicant is in arrears with his payment obligations to Bjarg.
2.13.4. A registration may be rejected if the applicant has been expelled from Bjarg housing due to violation of rules.
3. Housing allocation
3.1. When an applicant is to be allocated an apartment, Bjarg confirms whether the applicant meets all conditions for allocation, cf. article 1 on general conditions for application and article 5 on criteria for number of inhabitants per apartment. Should an applicant in fact not meet all conditions for allocation, then s/he shall be informed thereof and not be allocated an apartment. If the applicant has objections to Bjarg’s assessment, s/he must submit a written objection to Bjarg’s Appeals Committee urskurdarnefnd@bjargibudafelag.is, within seven days of the assessment becoming available, along with any necessary documents to support his/her case.
3.2. Upon allocation applicants choose an apartment in their size category according to their position on the waiting list.
3.3. When an applicant is allocated an apartment s/he must confirm their acceptance within seven days from allocation and pay a confirmation fee of ISK 30.000. The confirmation fee is non-refundable if the applicant cancels his application, otherwise it will form a part of the security deposit according to the rental agreement. If a confirmation fee is not paid within the time limit indicated, the application is cancelled but the applicant keeps his/her place on the waiting list.
3.4. If it is found, after the rental agreement is signed, that information submitted by the applicant upon registration or accompanying documents are incorrect and the applicant was or should have been aware of this, the application is cancelled and the tenant must, upon Bjarg’s demand, vacate the premises within 30 days from receiving a written notice thereof, in case the applicant has obtained an apartment.
3.5. Even though the person on the top of the list rejects an allocation offer, that person keeps his/her place on the waiting list.
4. Allocations shall be according to the following rules.
4.1. In general 80% of apartments are allocated to ASÍ members and 20% to BSRB members. Members who have had a legal residence in the respective municipality/union area for one year or longer have a priority to 50% of apartments in the respective municipality.
4.2. Studio apartments and two-room apartments. Couples without children and individuals can be allocated a studio apartment or a two-room apartment.
4.3. Family apartments (3 to 5 room apartments). Applicants with one or more children can be allocated a 3 to 5 room apartment. If a child is expected and therefore not entered in Registries Iceland, the applicant shall provide a pregnancy certificate at Bjarg’s office.
Further on the types of apartments:
4.4. Applications based on more than two persons per room are rejected, with the exception of article 4.5 stipulation.
4.5. Applicants with young children may, notwithstanding articles 4.3 and 4.4, apply for smaller apartments where a child or children are not expected to have their own room. It should be borne in mind, however, for such an application, that even though present tenants have a certain priority to new apartments, a considerable waiting period should be expected before being allocated a larger apartment.
4.6. A parent with joint custody of a child/children, where the child/children have a registered domicile with the other parent, can be on a waiting list for a family apartment. A confirmation from a District Commissioner (Sýslumaður) on joint custody must be submitted. In other respects, information from Registries Iceland is used for assessing applicant family size.
4.7. The number of children is the deciding factor when an apartment is allocated, both in terms of allocation priority and size of apartment. However, this does not apply when the applicant’s children have reached 20 years of age. Children older than 20 years who can verifiably not live alone due to mental or physical disability or illnesses will, however, continue to have priority as applicant's children. A certified disability assessment from the Social Insurance Administration (Tryggingastofnun) or a medical certificate which confirms that the child needs such support for the above reasons and that it is a persistent condition, is required. Two single, adult individuals in the same family (sisters, brothers, mother&daughter etc.) can both be tenants on the lease agreement and be allocated an apartment where each gets their room. In this case, the income and assets of both parties shall be regarded as in the case of a partner. If the applicant shares legal residence with elderly parents who share a home with him/her, these shall be treated the same way as children. The application must state whether the connection is to the tenant or the spouse and provide a birth certificate for the respective person.
4.8. Allocation from the transfer list shall take place according to the priority criteria indicated below and a transfer party is allocated every fourth allocated apartment.
4.8.1. Those living in the same building are at the top of the waiting list if the apartment size is suitable.
4.8.2. Those who are in a different building and seek transfer due to divorce, end of cohabitation or death.
4.8.3. Those who are in a different building and seek a transfer.
4.9. Those who do not receive allocation remain on the waiting list.
4.10. If no applicant below the income and asset limit is found, Bjarg may rent to applicants who are above the income and asset limits, giving priority to ASÍ and BSRB members meeting the conditions of article 1 in other respects. The rent may be set at market terms. However, such rental agreements must be for no more than one year.
5. Rental agreements and security deposit
5.1. No later than three months before an apartment is issued the applicant shall sign a rental agreement provided by Bjarg’s office containing further provisions on tenant’s rights and obligations. Apartment keys shall only be handed over to new tenants upon presentation of a signed rental agreement.
5.2. The security deposit is the equivalent of a three months' rent. The security deposit secures correct performance of the rental agreement, for payment of rent, payment of cost that may accrue when an apartment is returned and damages on the rented property that the tenant may be responsible for according to the Rent Act. Bjarg holds the security deposit according to rental agreement provisions and Act No. 36/1994. The tenant can also choose to buy an insurance from an authorized party. Insurance must be confirmed at the rental agreement signature. The security deposit shall be returned once an inspection of the housing and final settlement have taken place.
5.3. Rental agreements are based on the names of those who are allocated the respective housing. Tenants have absolutely no right to exchange or negotiate a mutual exchange of apartments.
5.4. The tenant may not sublet the apartment or a part of it without Bjarg’s consent. Subletting is only permitted due to special circumstances assessed by the Board. It must be demonstrated in a verifiable manner that the measure is temporary. The maximum subletting period is two years and must be one continuous period. The original tenant is still accountable for rights and obligations according to law. The subtenant, based on this provision, does not acquire any rights with respect to the apartment.
5.5. Only those recorded in the rent agreement and the tenant’s family have a right to live on the premises.
6. Pets
Pets are not allowed in other apartments than those that Bjarg has defined for pets. The permit can at maximum be for one animal per apartment. Information on apartments where keeping pets is permitted will be stated in an advertisement for the allocation. It must be kept in mind for such an application that those apartments are relatively few and a longer waiting period may be expected.
A registration/license for registered pets must be presented. Pets shall be kept in a manner to avoid noise, disturbance, unwholesomeness or uncleanliness. Tenants are obliged to adhere to the regulations and rules of the respective Ministry, environmental and food administration and the respective municipality on keeping animals. It is not permitted to have types of dogs that are considered dangerous or undesirable based on experience or a specialist assessment, such as a veterinarian, dog trainer or dog control officer.
7. Housing delivery
7.1. Delivery at the beginning of a tenancy. Bjarg employees shall deliver housing to a tenant on the first day of the tenancy and at the same time a delivery inspection takes place. Bjarg reserves the right to delay delivery for up to 15 days due to force majeure events and without specific compensation, but the rent will be lowered according to the delay. A tenant shall be informed of an expected delay of delivery as soon as possible. Time of delivery is generally between 11-15.
7.2. Return at the end of tenancy. The tenant shall return her/his housing cleaned and tidied no later than at 15:00 on the day of return and at the same time a return inspection takes place. The tenant shall be present at the inspection. If a tenant cannot be present at an inspection, the tenant must appoint a representative in his/her place. If neither tenant nor agent appear for the inspection the return may be delayed at the tenant’s cost. If the tenant delays returning the housing beyond a previously convened time, the tenant shall pay a 3 days rent for each day the return is delayed.
If the tenant delivers the housing poorly cleaned, a cleaning service is hired at the tenant’s cost, to be based on the apartment surface area.
Bjarg collects a return fee when a rent period ends according to its list of rates.
Paint work at the end of a rent period is paid by the tenant with consideration to use. Final settlement takes place at the end of the rent period.
8. Complaints Committee
Bjarg shall have a Complaints Committee consisting of three members, one from Bjarg, one from ASÍ and one from BSRB. The committee shall decide in all matters of dispute that may arise with respect to waiting list registration and allocations and the committee’s decisions are final. The Complaints Committee is subject to the general rules of the Administrative Procedures Act
Thus agreed by the Board of Bjarg Housing Foundation on 6nd December 2018.