Tight Race for Labour Leadership

Oslo news from the past 48 hours has been dominated by the race for Arbeiderparti’s nomination for city mayor, as the city emerges from a major leak in the district heating network and the debate over affordable housing focuses on Søndre Nordstrand. The city council has also awarded two new care homes for the elderly to the operator Smartlegen, despite criticism. A British aircraft carrier is also due to enter the Oslofjord on Friday 6 November, according to Aftenposten (NRK Oslo, Aftenposten).

Oslo news: tight race for the Arbeiderparti leadership

The race for Arbeiderparti’s nomination for the position of byrådsleder, the head of the municipal executive, is tightening ahead of the 2027 local elections. Marthe Scharning Lund and Usman Mushtaq are the two names in the running to challenge Eirik Lae Solberg (Høyre), Oslo’s mayor since 2023. The decision will be made at the nomination meeting on 22 November, at Samfunnssalen, above Sentrum scene (NRK Oslo).

On the evening of Wednesday 4 November, the positions of 42 of the 46 local branches with voting rights were published on the Oslo Arbeiderparti website. They put Marthe Scharning Lund in the lead with 21 endorsements against 18 for Usman Mushtaq, with two branches taking a shared position, according to NRK Oslo. AUF, the largest branch, has put forward no candidate. These figures remain indicative: the final vote will take place on 22 November (NRK Oslo).

Housing: Søndre Nordstrand, the most affordable area in Oslo County

The average price per square metre in Oslo rose from 67,000 kroner in 2018 to 97,000 kroner in 2025, according to municipal figures cited by NRK Oslo. The gaps between boroughs remain substantial. Søndre Nordstrand offers the most space for the money. Johanna Mbye and her family moved there a little over a year ago, to Bjørndal, after leaving Nordstrand. They have a terrace of about 70 square metres, almost as large as a flat, reports NRK Oslo (NRK Oslo).

The family explains that they left a three-room flat that had become too small. Their initial choice was dictated by price: in Nordstrand, buying a larger home was out of reach, even though the family liked the area. NRK Oslo’s report describes a family pleasantly surprised by their new neighbourhood. These price differences are measured across Oslo County (NRK Oslo).

District heating: 1,500 homes left without heat after a leak

A 20-centimetre-wide district heating pipe burst on Wednesday 4 November in the afternoon at Tøyenbekken, on Grønland, in central Oslo. Water at more than 100 degrees under pressure gushed from the roadway, forming a plume of steam visible several metres above the ground. The police received the alert at 17h15 and cordoned off a large area (NRK Oslo).

The leak was stopped around 19:00, but about 1,500 homes were left without hot water or heating overnight. On the morning of Thursday 5 November, Hafslund Celsio announced that normal service had been restored. The operator estimates that more than a million litres of water were lost. “This must not happen,” said Hafslund Celsio communications manager Truls Jemtland to NRK Oslo. The company says it must establish the exact cause of the rupture (NRK Oslo).

Health: Smartlegen wins two new care homes for the elderly

Oslo’s city council announced on Wednesday 4 November that Smartlegen had won the tender to operate Ellingsrudhjemmet in the Alna borough and Langerudhjemmet in the Østensjø borough. The company already operates Uranienborghjemmet, where undesirable incidents have been reported. Health councillor Oluf Ulseth (Høyre) acknowledges that Smartlegen has been criticized, while stating that the facility is closely monitored by the Sykehjemsetaten and that measures have been taken (NRK Oslo).

Siavash Mobasheri, an Rødt councillor, disputes the decision: “I simply don’t understand what they’re doing”, he tells NRK Oslo. The tender for Ellingsrudhjemmet and Langerudhjemmet was decided in January. Smartlegen says it is “proud and grateful for the trust received” in the passages quoted by NRK Oslo (NRK Oslo).

British aircraft carrier expected in the Oslofjord

Among the other Oslo news stories, a large British aircraft carrier is due to enter the Oslofjord on Friday 6 November, according to Aftenposten. Around 700 Britons could travel to Oslo on this occasion, the newspaper reports. The information was published in its morning edition. Aftenposten provides no details about the visit programme (Aftenposten).

📌 Local briefs

In Vinterbro, in the municipality of Ås (Akershus), a woman was seriously injured on Wednesday 4 November after being struck by a fire engine responding to an incident. She was transported to Ullevål hospital by helicopter. Follo Brannvesen fire chief Stein Grongstad says internal procedures are being followed and that the personnel involved are being supported (NRK Oslo).

Police received the alert at 11:27. According to witnesses, the woman was coming out of a path to cross over toward a bus stop. The Norwegian Accident Investigation Board was notified (NRK Oslo).

Sources: NRK Oslo, Aftenposten, The Local Norway — Period: 05 November 2026 and 06 November 2026