The same week that the Federal Government promises to halve homelessness in Australia, comes the news that a property owner group in Stockholm has promised to provide apartments for homeless people.

The Swedish Property Federation (Fastighetsägarna) in Stockholm has signed an agreement with Stockholm city council covering the provision of 100 apartments spread across the city.

The federation's CEO Christer Jansson said that it is also important to vary the locations, so that it is not obvious that the apartments are being used for this purpose.

If the scheme is successful, the intention is that the tenants will be offered a permanent rental contract for the apartments.

When a survey was last made in the spring there were 3,081 homeless people in Stockholm, 150 fewer than in 2006. But only a small proportion of these are thought to be capable of being able to learn to manage their own housing.