Gendered experiences of sublet housing platforms in Stockholm

Subletting, as an informal mode of arranging housing, has become an important segment of the housing market in Sweden and is often facilitated through online groups and platforms such as Facebook. However, little is known about how these digital platforms function as sites for the production and reproduction of gender norms, as well as of unequal behaviours and experiences among women subtenants. This study draws on in-depth interviews with subtenants in Stockholm and explores the norms and ideals shaping tenants’ interactions on digital rental platforms. The findings show that housing advertisements frequently reproduce expectations of the ‘well-behaved female tenant’, positioning gender as both a resource and a constraint. While women may strategically mobilise gendered norms to secure housing, they also encounter unwanted sexual advances and face a persistent risk of male harassment. By focusing on the sublet market, the article contributes to research on digital housing platforms from a feminist perspective, highlighting how digital infrastructures mediate both exclusion and exposure. In doing so, it raises broader questions of dignity, access, and justice in contemporary urban housing systems.