| Term | What it means | Applies in Sweden today? |
|---|---|---|
| Utility-value rent | Rent is tested against equivalent flats and negotiated collectively | Yes – the rule for primary contracts |
| Presumption rent | Rent is set based on production costs and is valid for 15 years | Yes – in practice for all new construction |
| Free rent setting for new builds | The property owner sets the rent themselves in new houses | No – investigated in 2021, never became law |
| Security rent | Starting rent is agreed freely, followed by indexation | No – a proposal from the Moderate Party |
| Market rent | Rent is determined continuously by willingness to pay | No |
Market rent means that rent is set freely by supply and demand: the landlord and the tenant agree on the price without the rent being tested against what equivalent flats cost. Sweden does not have market rents for primary contracts. Instead, the rent is determined by the utility-value system (bruksvärdessystemet), which was introduced in 1968 and is based on collective bargaining between property owners and the tenants' association. The term appears in every election campaign, and ahead of the parliamentary election on 13 September 2026, it is back in the debate.
Bofrid is a Swedish rental marketplace where private individuals and property owners let out homes directly to tenants, and the question of what market rents actually entail arises time and again. Here is the answer – with the legal framework, the figures, and the arguments on both sides.
How rent is set in Sweden today
The foundation is the utility-value principle in Chapter 12, Section 55 of the Land Code (jordabalken). The rent must reflect the flat's standard, equipment, common areas, and location, and its reasonableness is tested by comparing it to equivalent flats. The negotiation itself takes place collectively according to the Rental Negotiation Act (hyresförhandlingslagen), between a property owner and a tenants' association, not between you and your landlord.
The purpose is the security of tenure (besittningsskydd): a tenant should not be able to be forced to move because the landlord raises the rent. The system has been adjusted along the way. In 1974, municipal housing company rents became the standard, and in 2011 that role was removed – since then, the norm is the collectively negotiated rents. We have covered what applies in the event of an increase in Rent increases: your rights and the rules.
New construction is an exception. Since 2006, the rent in a newly built house can be set as a presumption rent (presumtionshyra): it is negotiated based on production costs, is exempt from utility-value testing, and is valid for 15 years. The rules were changed on 1 January 2026 through prop. 2024/25:192 – presumption rents now generally receive the same percentage increase as the rest of the housing stock in the area, and disputes can be decided by an arbitrator appointed by the Rent Tribunal (Hyresnämnden).
Market rent, free rent setting, and security rent – what is the difference?
The terms are mixed up in the debate, but they do not mean the same thing.
The difference between security rent (trygghetshyra) and market rent lies in what happens after moving in. The Moderate Party states that they "do not want to introduce market rents that would mean the rent could be increased drastically in a short time," and that rent development in their model should follow "a secure, simple, and predictable indexation." Criticism of the proposal instead concerns the starting rent, i.e., what a vacant contract costs for someone seeking housing. We clarify more terms in the glossary for the rental market.
What would market rents mean for the rent?
The closest thing to an answer we have is the scenario analyses that Ramboll Management Consulting conducted on behalf of the Swedish Union of Tenants during 2026. The method compares today's rent levels with tenant-owned flat (bostadsrätt) prices and household incomes in different sub-areas to calculate what rent would correspond to a market equilibrium.
| Municipality | Estimated average rent increase |
|---|---|
| Stockholm | 39 % |
| Gothenburg | 36 % |
| Uppsala | 27 % |
| Örebro | 24 % |
| Linköping | 22 % |
| Luleå | 18 % |
| Helsingborg | almost 10 % |
The average across the seven municipalities lands at around 25 percent, but the variation within a city is greater than that between cities. In Stockholm, Östermalm–Djurgården is estimated to have increases of nearly 110 percent and Norra Innerstaden 78 percent, while Skärholmen and Hässelby-Vällingby stop at 11–13 percent and rents in Järva could even fall slightly. Housing costs as a share of household income in Stockholm are estimated to rise from 25 to 36 percent.
Two objections are relevant. The reports were commissioned by a party in the debate, and they only measure direct effects – Ramboll explicitly writes that dynamic effects such as moving chains, investment decisions, and new construction are not analyzed. As a reference point, a three-room flat cost an average of 9,118 SEK per month in Sweden in 2025 according to SCB (Statistics Sweden), after an increase of 4.6 percent from the previous year. Current levels per municipality can be found on our page with rental prices.
Arguments for and against
Arguments for freer rent setting include mobility and supply. If the price dictates, it becomes more expensive to remain in an overly large flat in an attractive location, more people might let out their homes, and the queue is replaced by price. The scale of the problem is hard to dismiss: on 31 December 2025, 894,592 people were registered with the Stockholm Housing Agency, and the 20,861 flats allocated during the year had an average queue time of 9.0 years.
Arguments against include that a home is not a commodity one can abstain from. If rents are increased sharply in attractive locations, households with lower incomes are pushed out to where the rent is low, and the security of tenure becomes weaker in practice, even if it remains in the law. The Swedish Union of Tenants and Sveriges Allmännytta also argue that previous investigations have not been able to show that rent setting is the deciding factor in whether rental flats are built or not.
Neither side has a Swedish benchmark to point to. Rents in Sweden have been regulated in some form since 1942.
What Finland can teach us
Finland deregulated its rental market in stages until 1995 and is therefore the example both sides cite. According to Boframjandet's review from 2023, the deregulation led to higher rents in the deregulated stock, especially in the Helsinki region – but also to a significantly larger supply. Since 1995, the Helsinki region has had a clearly higher rate of housing construction per 1,000 inhabitants than the Stockholm region, and in the capital region, there have been 16,000–20,000 vacant flats available at the same time in recent years.
The comparison has catches. The deregulation was carried out in the wake of the 90s crisis, when demand was subdued and there was an oversupply, which kept increases down in the short term. And it was not all or nothing: subsidized Ara-homes with regulated rents make up about 30 percent of new construction in Helsinki today, and the housing allowance is generous. Thus, it is not a pure market that is being compared.
Market rents already exist – in part of the market
If you rent a tenant-owned flat (bostadsrätt) or a house from a private individual, the utility value does not apply. Instead, the Private Rental Act (privatuthyrningslagen) governs this, and it was replaced on 1 July 2026 by a new law through prop. 2025/26:187, which the Riksdag decided on 5 May 2026. The old calculation – a reasonable return on the home's market value plus operating costs – has been removed. Instead, the Rent Tribunal (Hyresnämnden) can only change the rent if it is significantly higher than what is generally charged for other private lettings. It is a comparison with the market, not with a utility value. The law only applies to physical persons and estates, and not to those who regularly let out more than two flats. We cover what else changed in New rental law 2026 and in our guide to the Private Rental Act.
Subletting (andrahandsuthyrning) of a rental flat works the opposite way. There, the primary rent is the ceiling, a furnishing surcharge must not exceed 15 percent according to the Swedish Courts, and the Rent Tribunal (Hyresnämnden) can decide on the repayment of excess rent (överhyra) up to two years back for agreements entered into after 1 October 2019. Here is what to do in the event of a dispute: report to the Rent Tribunal (Hyresnämnden).
Frequently asked questions
Does Sweden have market rents today? No. Primary contracts are set according to the utility-value system and new construction in practice with presumption rent. No party has so far managed to get free rent setting for homes through the Riksdag.
What happened to the 2021 proposal? The inquiry into free rent setting for new construction (SOU 2021:50) was submitted on 4 June 2021. The Left Party had set the issue as a condition for their support of the government, and on 21 June, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was ousted in a vote of no confidence with 181 votes to 109. He resigned on 28 June, and the proposal never became law.
Would my rent be raised immediately if market rents were introduced? Not according to the proposals currently on the table. The Moderate Party's security rent is intended to apply to new contracts, and the Liberal Party wants, according to their 2026 election manifesto, to "allow free rent setting in new construction and let location affect rents more." Ongoing agreements are not affected by any of the proposals.
What are the parties' positions ahead of the 2026 election? The Moderate Party wants to replace collective bargaining and utility value with security rents for new contracts, a decision made at the 2025 party conference. The Liberal Party wants free rent setting in new construction. The Social Democrats say no and want to stimulate construction instead, among other things by reintroducing investment subsidies. The Left Party ousted the government on the issue in 2021.
This text constitutes general information and is not to be considered as legal advice.
