This is general information, not legal or tax advice. All figures in the examples are estimates. Check what applies to your own rental in the sources at the end. Most of them are official Swedish pages, in Swedish.
The rule since 1 July 2026
When you rent out your own house, bostadsrätt (co-op flat) or ägarlägenhet (owner-occupied flat) in Sweden as a private person, a lease signed on or after 1 July 2026 follows the Private Rental Act, Privatuthyrningslag (2026:772). You and the tenant agree the rent, and it must be a fixed amount. The old rule, which worked the rent out from the home's capital and running costs, no longer applies to new leases (Swedish courts on the new rules).
The act applies when:
- you are a private person (or an estate) and rent the home out for someone to live in,
- you do not regularly rent out more than two homes that are not part of your own home,
- you own the home, rather than renting it yourself, and it is not rented out as a holiday home.
The rent may include electricity, heating, hot water and water charged at actual use. You may also agree that the rent follows an index; you then give written notice of each change, the new rent applies at the earliest from the turn of the month one month later, and the previous rent must have applied for at least a year.
When is the rent too high?
The tenant can apply to the Rent Tribunal (hyresnämnden) to change the rent. The tribunal lowers it only if it is significantly higher than what is generally charged for similar homes rented out privately, and then sets a fair rent based first on those homes.
Your rent is compared with the private rental market, not with your mortgage or your service charge. The act sets no percentage for "significantly". The safe approach is to set the rent within the range for similar homes and keep the evidence of how you got there.
Worked example: setting a rent that holds
The example: you rent out your co-op flat, two rooms and a kitchen, 58 square metres, furnished, for a year. Electricity is not included; the tenant pays their own use. The figures are estimates to show the method.
Step 1: find similar homes rented out privately
Find at least five listings for private rentals in the same area: the same number of rooms, about the same size and standard, furnished, and with the same things included in the rent. Note each monthly rent.
| Comparable home | Size | Monthly rent |
|---|---|---|
| A | 2 rooms, 55 m² | 12,900 SEK |
| B | 2 rooms, 60 m² | 13,500 SEK |
| C | 2 rooms, 57 m² | 13,800 SEK |
| D | 2 rooms, 62 m² | 14,200 SEK |
| E | 2 rooms, 58 m² | 14,900 SEK |
Step 2: find the middle and the range
The range runs from 12,900 to 14,900 SEK. The middle value, the third of five, is 13,800 SEK.
Step 3: adjust for the differences
Your flat has a newly renovated kitchen and a balcony, which most of the comparisons lack. You settle on 14,000 SEK a month: inside the range and close to the middle.
Step 4: keep the evidence
Save the listings, the date you found them and one line on why you chose 14,000 SEK. If the rent is ever challenged, this is your evidence.
A rent in the middle of the range for similar private rentals is easy to defend. A rent far above the highest one you found is not.
Image courtesy of Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash
If the tenant thinks the rent is too high
The tenant applies in writing to the Rent Tribunal, which first tries to help you reach an agreement. If the tribunal lowers the rent, the new rent applies from the day of the application, unless the tribunal decides otherwise.
- Repayment: if the rent is lowered for a period that has passed, you repay what you received too much, with interest. The interest is the Riksbank reference rate plus two percentage points until the decision is final, then plus eight (Interest Act).
- Appeal: the tribunal's decision can be appealed to the Svea Court of Appeal within three weeks. There, each side pays its own legal costs.
- The lease continues: the new rent becomes a term of the continuing lease.
If you set the rent from similar homes and kept the evidence, a challenge is rarely anything to worry about.
Leases signed before 1 July 2026
A lease signed before 1 July 2026 still follows the act on renting out your own home, Lag (2012:978). Under it, the tribunal may set the rent at an amount that is not clearly above the home's capital cost and running costs. The capital cost is a reasonable rate of return on the home's market value, and the running costs of the home are added to it. A new rent applies from the day of the application.
Renting out a co-op flat: consent first
To rent out your bostadsrätt, you need the housing association board's consent. If the board says no, you can apply to the Rent Tribunal for permission, which is given if you have a reason for renting it out and the association has no good reason to refuse. Permission is for a set period (Tenant-Owner Act, chapter 7, sections 10 and 11). Since 1 July 2026, earlier rentals count against you only if they were extensive.
Tax on the rental income, income year 2026
When you rent out a private home you pay tax on the surplus: the rent minus the deductions. The tax is 30%, and the surplus is declared as capital income at item 7.3 of the Swedish tax return (Skatteverket: Owning property; full rules, in Swedish). If you live abroad and own a home in Sweden, you may still need to file a Swedish tax return.
- Standard deduction: 40,000 SEK per home and year. Joint owners share it by their share. If you owned the home for part of the year, you get it for those months.
- House or ägarlägenhet: also 20% of the rental income.
- Co-op flat: instead of 20%, the part of your monthly service charge that covers the rented period, without any capital contribution, plus the association's fee for subletting.
- No deductions for actual costs such as furniture, extra insurance, repairs or interest; the standard deduction covers them.
In the example above (estimate): 14,000 SEK for twelve months is 168,000 SEK. The service charge is 4,300 SEK a month with no capital contribution, 51,600 SEK for the year. The surplus is 168,000 − 40,000 − 51,600 = 76,400 SEK, and the tax, 30% of it, is 22,920 SEK. Skatteverket has a calculator that works out your own case. For every deduction, the dates and how to correct earlier years, see Tax on rental income when you rent out privately in Sweden.
Image courtesy of Scott Graham via Unsplash
How Hyrea helps once the home is let
Once the rent is set, renting out is about the rent arriving every month, which is harder to follow from abroad. Hyrea shows what is due and what has come in, and can remind the tenant before the due date, on it and when the rent is late, until the rent is recorded. The Free plan covers up to 3 units. See also Late Rent: What to Do on Each Day It Is Late.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I charge any rent I like?
You and the tenant agree the rent. But the tenant can have it lowered by the Rent Tribunal if it is significantly higher than what is generally charged for similar homes rented out privately, and you may then have to repay with interest.
What counts as a similar home?
A home rented out privately that is like yours in location, size, number of rooms, standard and what the rent includes, such as furniture. The more comparisons you have, and the closer they are, the stronger your evidence.
Can the tenant claim rent back?
Yes, under the Private Rental Act, if the tribunal lowers the rent for a period that has passed. You then repay what you received too much, with interest.
Do we need a written lease?
The lease must be in writing if you or the tenant ask for it. Always write one: the rent, what it includes, the lease period and how the rent is paid.
Does this apply if I sublet a flat I rent myself?
No. The Private Rental Act does not apply when you rent the home yourself. Subletting a rental flat follows the rental law's own rules, not covered here.
How much tax will I pay?
30% of the surplus after the 40,000 SEK standard deduction and the deduction for your type of home. If the rent is below the deductions, there is no tax and nothing to declare.
Sources
- Privatuthyrningslag (2026:772), the Private Rental Act: chapter 1 sections 1, 3 and 5, chapter 2 sections 1, 4, 5 and 6, chapter 7 sections 4 and 5, transitional provisions (in Swedish)
- Sveriges Domstolar: new rules for renting and co-op flats, summer 2026 (in Swedish)
- Sveriges Domstolar: how the Rent Tribunal works (in Swedish)
- Lag (2012:978) om uthyrning av egen bostad: sections 4 and 5, leases before 1 July 2026 (in Swedish)
- Bostadsrättslag (1991:614): chapter 7 sections 10 and 11 (in Swedish)
- Räntelag (1975:635), the Interest Act: sections 5, 6 and 9 (in Swedish)
- Skatteverket: Owning property (in English)
- Skatteverket: Hyra ut privatbostad (in Swedish)
See it with your own homes
The Free plan covers up to 3 units, with no card. Add a property and a tenant and watch Hyrea put the rest in order. Missing something you need? Tell us. Every rental business is run a little differently, and we want to hear how you run yours. What you tell us shapes the features other landlords and property managers rely on next.
