--- title: "What does the 2026 election result mean for the rental market?" author: "Oskar Hellström" authorUrl: "https://bofrid.se/en/articles/authors/oskar-hellstrom" datePublished: "2026-09-14T10:57:36.736Z" dateModified: "2026-09-14T10:57:36.789Z" description: "The left bloc got 176 seats, Tidö 173 and no government is formed. Here's how the 2026 election result affects rents, new construction and your letting." keywords: ["2026 election result rental market", "housing policy after the 2026 election", "free rent setting new production", "rent after the election", "reasonable rent 2026"] categories: ["General", "Guides"] canonical: "https://bofrid.se/en/articles/what-does-the-2026-election-result-mean-for-the-rental-market" language: "en" --- # What does the 2026 election result mean for the rental market? Preliminary figures from the general election on 13 September 2026 give the left bloc 176 seats and the Tidö parties 173. Three seats separate them, the count is not complete and no government exists yet. This is a situation that makes big headlines and small reforms — and that very difference is the most important thing to understand if you let out a home or are looking for one. ## Så ser mandatläget ut With just over 94 per cent of the votes counted, the seats are distributed as follows: the Social Democrats 100, the Moderates 70, the Sweden Democrats 62, the Left Party 29, the Centre Party 25, the Christian Democrats 22, the Green Party 22 and the Liberals 19. An outright majority requires 175 of the Riksdag's 349 seats. The figures are preliminary. The postal votes and the final count at the Swedish Election Authority (Valmyndigheten) can shift individual seats, and a single seat decides which side has a numerical advantage. Until that count is complete, any claim about what a new government will do with the rental market is a guess. ## Vad de två sidorna har velat göra med hyresmarknaden Housing policy has in practice been about two issues over the past few terms of office. The first is rent setting in new production. The Moderates, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats have pushed for rents in newly built flats to be set more freely, arguing that it gets more rental flats built. The opposition has been equally consistent: the Left Party, the Green Party and the Swedish Union of Tenants (Hyresgästföreningen) see it as a first step away from the collective rent negotiation system, and the Social Democrats have rejected the proposal in the form it was put forward. The second is government money. The investment subsidy for rental housing was phased out during the previous term. The Social Democrats, the Left Party and the Green Party have wanted to reintroduce a subsidy of some kind, while the Tidö parties have preferred to direct efforts towards start-up loans and lower construction costs. Note a detail that rarely fits into the election night broadcast: the Centre Party sits on the left bloc's seat total but has historically been the clearest advocate of freer rent setting in new production. A majority on paper is thus not a majority on this particular issue. ## Varför tre mandat betyder att lite hinner hända A government resting on 176 seats can lose a vote if two members are ill. That kind of majority is used for budgets and for proposals all the parties involved already agree on. It is not used to rebuild rent setting, because every such reform requires holding together a coalition where the Left Party wants ministerial posts and the Centre Party says no to governing with the Left Party. The conclusion is uncomfortable but reasonable: the likelihood of a comprehensive change to rent regulation during this term is low, regardless of who ultimately holds the prime ministerial post. Housing policy with small margins becomes adjustments in the budget — subsidies, deductions, interest deductions, building permit fees — rather than new legislation on how rents are set. ## Det som inte ändras av ett valresultat The rules you actually meet as a landlord or tenant remain until the Riksdag changes them, and none of that changed on Sunday. The utility value principle in Chapter 12, Section 55 of the Land Code (jordabalken) still determines what is a reasonable rent in an ordinary rental flat: the rent is compared with equivalent flats in the locality. If you let out your own home, instead Section 4 of the Act (2012:978) on letting of one's own dwelling applies, where the rent may cover your costs plus a reasonable return on the value of the dwelling. We have gone through the calculation in [how the rent is affected by the Private Housing Letting Act](https://bofrid.com/en/articles/how-the-private-housing-rental-act-2026-772-affects-your-rent) and in [how the rent is calculated when letting a house](https://bofrid.com/en/articles/how-is-rent-calculated-when-letting-out-a-villa). The Rent Tribunal (Hyresnämnden) tries the disputes in the same way as last week. The requirements for consent in subletting remain. The rules on what information a landlord may request about an applicant remain, and they are summarised in [what a landlord may ask about your finances](https://bofrid.com/en/articles/what-can-a-landlord-ask-about-your-finances-swedish-law-explained-bofrid). ## Vad som faktiskt styr din hyra i höst Three things affect rent levels more than the election result does over the coming year. The interest rate determines the calculation for everyone who lets out a home they have mortgaged, because the capital cost is the largest item in a reasonable rent. The pace of construction determines supply in your municipality, and it responds to interest rates and construction costs long before it responds to a bill. The annual rent negotiations between property owners and the tenants' organisation set the level in the existing stock, and those negotiations follow operating and maintenance costs, not the seat distribution. Local prices also move differently, and the difference between two municipalities is usually greater than the difference between two governments. ## Vad du kan göra nu If you let out: recalculate your rent against your own cost picture instead of against the headlines, and document how you arrived at the amount. A rent demand that holds up in a review holds up regardless of government. If you are looking for a home: do not wait out politics. A housing policy decision taken this spring will have an effect on supply at the earliest in several years, because a rental flat takes time to build. Instead, watch several municipalities and be prepared with documentation when an advert appears. ## Vanliga frågor **Do rents rise because of the election result?** No. The rent in a rental flat is set in negotiations between property owners and the tenants' organisation based on utility value and cost situation. An election result does not change that order in itself. **Will there be free rent setting in new production now?** Unlikely during this term. The proposal has support in parts of both blocs but lacks a stable majority, and a government with a margin of three seats rarely lays controversial bills. **Is my subletting affected?** Not at present. The requirement for consent and the rules on reasonable rent when letting one's own dwelling remain until the Riksdag decides otherwise. **When do we know which government we get?** Only after the final count, and then after the Speaker's soundings. That process normally takes weeks, in a close situation longer. **Should I postpone my move until the situation clears?** There is no housing policy reason to wait. Supply in your municipality over the coming year is already determined by construction projects that started long before election day.