Almost every Swedish flat is one or the other, and the difference decides what you pay, what you own, whose consent a sublet needs and which law protects you. Here is how each works for a visitor, a newcomer and a buyer, including the rules that changed in July 2026.
When you need this
You’re reading a Swedish flat listing that says BRF, avgift or hyra and want to know what it means. Someone has offered you a sublet and you want to know whose permission they need. You’re moving to Sweden for years and wondering whether to queue for a rental or buy. Or a colleague says they “own” their flat but still pays a monthly fee, and you want to know how both can be true.
The two systems side by side
Sweden’s blocks of flats are split roughly between the two forms. In 2025, about 1.47 million households lived in rental flats in apartment buildings and about 1.06 million in cooperative flats, out of just under 5 million households in all.
| Hyresrätt (rental) | Bostadsrätt (cooperative flat) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the building | A landlord: a municipal housing company or a private owner | The housing association (bostadsrättsförening, BRF), owned by its members |
| What you have | A lease | A membership right to use one flat for an unlimited time |
| What you pay | Monthly rent | A purchase price once, then a monthly fee to the association |
| Can you sell it? | No. Buying or selling a lease is a crime | Yes, and you can pledge it for a loan |
| Who maintains the inside | The landlord, including repainting at reasonable intervals | You, at your own cost |
| Right to stay | A first-hand tenant has a right to renewal | Unlimited, as long as you follow the statutes and house rules |
| Sublet needs | Landlord’s consent or the rent tribunal’s permission | Board’s consent or the rent tribunal’s permission |
| Leaving | Three months’ notice to a month-end | Sell the right |
A third form, the ägarlägenhet (owner-occupied flat), is real ownership of the flat itself. It’s a separate and less common listing type.
The hyresrätt: renting first-hand
A hyresrätt is a tenancy under Jordabalken chapter 12, the Land Code’s tenancy chapter. The landlord owns the building and keeps your flat in good condition, unless the lease says otherwise; you pay rent. Rents are not set by bidding but by comparison with similar flats, which is a topic of its own (see how Swedish rents are set).
The big advantage is security. A first-hand tenant (förstahandskontrakt) has a right to have the lease renewed when the landlord gives notice, except on listed grounds such as serious breach or demolition. You can leave whenever you like with three months’ notice to a month-end.
The limits matter too:
- You own nothing you can sell. Asking for, taking or paying money for a rental contract is a crime on both sides.
- You can’t hand the lease on without the landlord’s consent. A swap for another rental needs the rent tribunal’s permission, and is refused if anyone asked for or took payment.
- First-hand contracts come through queues. In Stockholm the average wait for an ordinary rental was 9.0 years in 2025. Why, and what to do instead, is in renting in Stockholm and the housing queue.
The bostadsrätt: what you actually own
A bostadsrätt is the form that confuses most newcomers, because Swedes say they “bought” the flat. Legally, the building belongs to a bostadsrättsförening, a registered economic association with at least three members. A flat can be granted with bostadsrätt only to a member, and the bostadsrätt is that member’s right in the association.
Sweden’s courts’ administration puts it plainly: you don’t own the dwelling, you own the right to live in it for an unlimited time. In practice that right behaves much like property. You can sell it, pledge it for a mortgage and renovate the inside. The association’s statutes and the board still set limits.
| You may | You need the board’s permission to |
|---|---|
| Renovate the inside where no permission rule applies | Touch a load-bearing wall |
| Sell the right to a buyer the board approves | Install or change water, drain, heating or gas pipes |
| Pledge the right as security for a mortgage | Change ventilation, a fireplace or fire safety |
| Take in a lodger, unless it harms the association | Sublet the flat to someone else |
You maintain the flat at your own cost, except shared pipes and ventilation ducts, while the association maintains the building. Owners need home insurance with a bostadsrättstillägg, a supplement covering the parts of the flat they are responsible for. Renters, subtenants and lodgers need their own home insurance (see home insurance for long stays).
Membership is the gate. The board decides, but the law voids any association rule requiring a certain citizenship, income or wealth. A buyer may be refused if they can’t meet their financial obligations to the association, and a refused buyer can take the decision to the rent tribunal within one month. Companies buying a residential flat can be refused even when they meet the conditions.
The monthly fee and the association’s debt
The bostadsrätt holder pays the price once, and then the association’s årsavgift (annual fee), usually paid monthly as a månadsavgift. The fee pays the association’s running costs: building maintenance, its own loans and interest, and often items such as heating or water, which vary by association. Pay it more than one week late and the association can, in principle, end your right to the flat.
That’s why price alone misleads. A cheap flat in an association carrying heavy loans can cost more each month than a dearer one in a debt-free association, and the debt never goes away while you own the flat. Swedish law gives buyers the tools to check:
- The agent’s property description must state the annual fee and any decided changes, the running costs, pledges, the share ratio (andelstal) and the flat’s indirekt nettoskuldsättning, its share of the association’s net debt.
- The agent must also hand over the latest annual report and the association’s statutes.
- The annual report must show key figures: annual fee, debt and savings per square metre, interest sensitivity and energy cost per square metre.
A low fee isn’t automatically good news. An association that saves too little for maintenance may have to raise the fee or borrow more later. How associations are run and financed is covered in the bostadsrättsförening explained.
Subletting: different rules for each
For visitors, this is the section that matters most, because you’ll usually rent second-hand from one or the other. The tenure form decides whose consent the person letting needs and which rent rule protects you.
| Sublet hyresrätt | Let bostadsrätt | |
|---|---|---|
| Consent from | The landlord, or the rent tribunal | The association’s board, or the rent tribunal |
| Tribunal test | Beaktansvärda skäl: weighty reasons such as temporary work or study elsewhere, or a long stay abroad | Just skäl, a reason: for example work elsewhere, trying out living together, or a flat that is hard to sell |
| Law protecting you | Jordabalken chapter 12 | The Private Letting Act (SFS 2026:772) |
| Rent rule | Tenant’s own rent plus at most 15% for furniture, utilities at cost; excess can be reclaimed | Compared with rents for similar private lets |
| Your notice | Three months to a month-end | Three months |
| Fee to the association | None | The board may charge the owner a sublet fee if its statutes allow |
Both forms have closed the same loophole. Letting a flat you don’t live in always counts as a sublet, even if you let only a room. That has applied to rentals since 2019, and since 1 July 2026 it applies to bostadsrätt too. Living in your own flat and taking in a lodger is different: a tenant may do it within reason, and a bostadsrätt holder may unless it harms the association or other members.
Changed in 2026: a bostadsrätt let by its owner falls under the Private Letting Act from 1 July 2026, which replaced the 2012 act and its cost-based rent cap. When we checked on 14 October 2026, even the courts’ administration’s own bostadsrätt pages still described the old rent rule. Contracts signed before July 2026 keep the old rules.
Without consent, both sides lose. An unauthorised sublet lets the landlord or association end the lease or the right, and you, the subtenant, must move. So ask the person letting one question first: is it a hyresrätt or a bostadsrätt? Then ask to see the written consent. The full rules, deposits and notice included, are in long stays in Sweden: renting for a season.
Since 2 July 2026 there is also a new contract type, hyrköp (rent-to-own). You live in a home and pay a fee while holding an option to buy it at an agreed price. The contract must be written and signed and must state the price and the option period, or it is void.
Who can get which: tourists, residents and EU citizens
| You are | Hyresrätt | Bostadsrätt |
|---|---|---|
| Tourist or short-stay visitor | Second-hand only, with the tenant’s consent paperwork | Rent from an owner who has the board’s consent |
| Newcomer staying for years | Join a housing queue for a first-hand lease, and rent second-hand meanwhile | You can buy; mortgages follow the 90% cap |
| EU citizen | Same rules as everyone | Same rules; nationality can’t be a condition |
| Non-EU citizen | Same rules as everyone | Same rules; nationality can’t be a condition |
Nationality matters less than you might expect. No association may require a certain citizenship. What decides in practice is whether you can show the board you can pay, and whether a lender will finance you. Since 1 April 2026 a new home loan may be at most 90% of the value, set by statute. Each lender decides for itself whether to lend to a non-resident. The buying process itself is in the Swedish house-buying process.
Decoding a Swedish flat listing
| Listing says | Means |
|---|---|
| BRF, Brf Solrosen | A bostadsrätt in the named housing association |
| Avgift (kr/mån) | The monthly fee to the association (bostadsrätt) |
| Hyra (kr/mån) | Monthly rent (hyresrätt or a sublet) |
| 2 rok | Two rooms and a kitchen: usually a living room, one bedroom, a kitchen |
| 1 rum med kokvrå | One room with a kitchenette smaller than seven square metres |
| kvm | Square metres |
| Förstahandskontrakt | First-hand lease directly with the landlord |
| Andrahand, i andra hand | A sublet |
| Inneboende | A room in someone else’s home, as a lodger |
| Ägarlägenhet | Real ownership of the flat |
Rooms follow a national definition: a room has at least seven square metres and daylight, and kitchen, kitchenette and bathroom never count. So “3 rok” is usually two bedrooms and a living room, not three bedrooms.
Practical information
| Item | Amount or rule | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Rent, hyresrätt | Not published here: set by negotiation and use value, varies by building | 2026-10-14 |
| Bostadsrätt price and monthly fee | Not published here: they vary by area and association; every listing states the fee | 2026-10-14 |
| Sublet fee to the association, maximum | 10% of the price base amount a year: 5,920 kr in 2026, pro rata per month | 2026-10-14 |
| Rent tribunal application | Free; each party pays its own costs | 2026-10-14 |
| New mortgage, maximum | 90% of market value since 1 April 2026 | 2026-10-14 |
| Tenant’s notice, open-ended rental | Three months to a month-end | 2026-10-14 |
| Appeal a refused membership | To the rent tribunal within one month | 2026-10-14 |
FAQ
What is the difference between a bostadsrätt and a hyresrätt?
A hyresrätt is a rental: a landlord owns the building, you pay rent, and as a first-hand tenant you have a right to stay unless the landlord has a legal ground to end it. A bostadsrätt is a cooperative flat: you buy a right of use from a housing association, pay a monthly fee for its costs, and can sell that right when you move.
Do you own your apartment with a bostadsrätt?
Not in the legal sense. The housing association owns the building, and you are a member who holds the right to live in one flat for an unlimited time. You can sell or mortgage that right, and you maintain the inside of the flat, but structural changes and sublets need the board’s permission. Real ownership of a flat exists separately, as an ägarlägenhet.
What does the monthly fee on a bostadsrätt cover?
The fee pays the association’s running costs: maintenance of the building, its loans and interest, and often items such as heating or water, which vary by association. Individually metered heating or electricity must be charged by measured use. The listing must state the fee, any decided changes, running costs and the association’s indirect net debt, so check those before comparing prices.
Can I sublet a bostadsrätt or a hyresrätt in Sweden?
Yes, with consent. A tenant needs the landlord’s consent or the rent tribunal’s permission for weighty reasons such as work elsewhere; a bostadsrätt holder needs the board’s consent or the tribunal’s permission for any reasonable cause. Permission is time-limited. Since 1 July 2026, letting a bostadsrätt you do not live in counts as a sublet even if only partly let.
Can foreigners buy a bostadsrätt in Sweden?
Yes. The law voids any association rule requiring a certain citizenship, income or wealth, so nationality cannot bar you. The board can still refuse a buyer who cannot meet the financial obligations, and a refusal can be taken to the rent tribunal within one month. Getting a mortgage is a separate question: the 90% loan cap applies, and lenders decide on non-residents.
Is it better to rent second-hand from a bostadsrätt or a hyresrätt?
They give different protections. A sublet hyresrätt has a hard rent cap: the tenant’s own rent plus at most 15% for furniture, and overpaid rent can be reclaimed. A let bostadsrätt falls under the Private Letting Act, where rent is compared with similar private lets and you get three months’ notice. Either way, ask to see the written consent.
What does “2 rok” mean in a Swedish apartment listing?
It means two rooms and a kitchen: in practice a living room, one bedroom and a kitchen. Swedish listings count rooms without the kitchen and bathroom, following Lantmäteriet’s definition, under which a room has at least seven square metres and daylight. A “kokvrå” is a kitchenette smaller than seven square metres, so “1 rok” and “1 rum med kokvrå” differ.
Related guides
- Renting in Stockholm and the housing queue — why first-hand rentals take years, and what to do meanwhile
- Long stays in Sweden: renting for a season — the full second-hand rules, deposits and notice
- The Swedish house-buying process — bidding, contracts and the 2026 mortgage cap
- The bostadsrättsförening explained — how the association that owns your building is run
- Staying in a Swedish apartment — door codes, laundry rooms and trash rooms once you’ve moved in
Facts verified 2026-10-14. Sources: Sveriges riksdag (Bostadsrättslag 1991:614, Jordabalk 12 kap., Privatuthyrningslag 2026:772, Fastighetsmäklarlag 2021:516, Årsredovisningslag 6 kap., Lag 2026:843 om hyrköp, Lag 2026:226), Sveriges Domstolar, SCB, Lantmäteriet, Regeringen, Konsumenternas and Polisen — full register in this topic’s source file. This is general information, not legal advice. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.