Stuff you do on your balcony
Stuff you do on your balcony, at least in Sweden, can lead to quibbles with and complaints from your neighbors. That begs the question, what are you really allowed to do on your balcony?
Sveriges Bostadsrättscentrum (a company that provides services to housing co-operatives) asked tenant and housing co-operative owners in Sweden what is OK to do on your balcony and what’s not. It seems the worst thing you can do is smoke on your balcony. The next to worst thing you can do is barbecue, followed by shaking out your rugs and feeding birds. But what’s considered “worst” and what leads to the most complaints apparently aren’t the same things.

“I’ve never heard of anyone complaining about somebody feeding birds from their balcony,” says Catharina Althini, a lawyer at Hyresgästföreningen (the Tenants’ Association). “So I don’t think the problem is all that common.” Smoking ranks fourth in the study done by Sveriges Bostadsrättscentrum, but according to Althini it is probably the most common cause of complaint. “Many see (smoking) as very disturbing. But it is most often OK from the Housing Act’s perspective.” What you may and may not do on your balcony depends a lot on where you live. “You have to check your contract and ask the landlord if there are any rules of conduct.”

Balconies are not as common in the U.S. as they are in Sweden so we regret to inform you that no comparable data exist from the USA.