Sweden's landlord and tenant laws are judged by the Global Property Guide to be very Pro-Tenant between landlord and tenant. Tenants in Sweden have strong legal protection against having their lease terminated. A landlord can only end or refuse to renew a residential lease under specific circumstances defined by law.

Rents: Can landlord and tenant freely agree rents in Sweden?

Unlike in many other countries, Sweden doesn’t apply a market rent system. In other words, landlords can’t simply charge whatever rent they like—even if tenants are willing to pay it.

Instead, Swedish law requires that rent be "reasonable," which means it should align with what is charged for similar apartments in the area. To get a sense of what’s considered reasonable, you can check rental levels from housing providers like LKF or AF Bostäder.

If a tenant believes their rent is unreasonably high, they can turn to the Regional Rent Tribunal for a review. If the tribunal finds that the rent exceeds what's considered fair, the landlord may be required to repay the excess amount—going back as far as two years.

The applicable law depends on the type of property being sublet. For rental apartments, the Swedish Tenancy Act (Hyreslagen) applies. In the case of subletting a condominium or a house, the rules are governed by the Law on Private Subletting (Privatuthyrningslagen).

Deposits

It’s common for landlords to ask for a security deposit, often along with one or more months’ rent paid in advance. The deposit serves as a safeguard in case of unpaid rent or any damage to the apartment during the tenancy.

What rights do landlords and tenants have in Sweden, especially as to duration of contract, and eviction?

Leases in Sweden can either be open-ended (running until further notice) or set for a specific duration (with a fixed end date). Whether or not a lease needs to be formally terminated depends on its length and type.

For fixed-term leases (definite period):

• If the lease is 9 months or less:
  The agreement typically ends automatically on the specified date, and no notice is needed—unless the lease specifically includes a notice period. In that case, both parties must follow it.

• If the lease is longer than 9 months:
  Notice of termination is required from both the landlord and the tenant. The lease won’t end automatically.

For open-ended leases (indefinite period):

Regardless of how long the tenant has lived there, both parties must always give notice to end the agreement.

How effective is the Swedish legal system?

The vast majority of landlord-tenant cases are settled in less than six months by Rent Tribunals. Tenancy Law is treated as a legal speciality on its own, and specialist lawyers serve the Rent Tribunals, which are not part of the formal legal system.

Legislation

The Land Code of 1970, which incorporated the previous Tenancy Act of 1968, contains all the rules about real estate. The provisions on tenancy are contained in Chapter 12, often called the 'Tenancy Act' ("hyreslagen"). The Tenancy Bargaining Act of 1974 regulates the current process of rent-setting. The Property Acquisition Act of 1982 made it possible to convert a tenancy apartment into a co-operative. If two-thirds of the tenants form an association, they can buy at a price well below house's the true market value, so long as the profit is maintained at a low level by rent control.

Brief history: Recent changes in Swedish landlord and tenant law

Until the Second World War the liberal model prevailed, with freedom of contract. But the 1942 Act on Rent Control established the tenant's right to renew his contract, and imposed strict controls on rents.

When the liberal-conservatives took power in 1991-1994, they began to reduce subsidies for dwelling construction and encourage the sale of municipal apartments into privatized 'cooperative housing'. Subsidies have been drastically reduced. Few apartments are now being built, mostly co-ops.

This unhappy state of affairs may be resolved by a move to market principles. In January 2003 a radical rent adjustment was proposed by the Landlords' Association, the Tenants' Association and the Municipal Housing Companies' Organization. New tenants would immediately pay higher rents. Existing tenants' reductions would be slowly phased out. But the future of this proposal is unclear.