The New Swedish Private Rental Act (2026:772): What Applies Now

On 1 July 2026 Sweden's new Private Rental Act — privatuthyrningslag (2026:772) entered into force, replacing the 2012 Act on the letting of one's own home (2012:978). It is the biggest change to private letting in over a decade: you may now let more than one home, you and your tenant set the rent yourselves — but the notice period is longer, and the rent tribunal can now order repayment for time already passed.

This guide covers what the law actually says, what applies to a contract you already have, and which of the new rules is the most expensive one to miss.

The short answer: what changed on 1 July 2026

Agreements entered into before 1 July 2026 continue under the old Act. That transitional rule surprises more landlords than anything else, and we return to it below.

1. Does the new Act apply to you?

The Act applies when a natural person or an estate lets a house or part of a house (ch. 1, s. 1). But three exceptions in ch. 1, s. 3 decide more than the main rule does. The Act does not apply if:

• you regularly let more than two apartments that are not part of your own home,
• you hold the home under a first-hand rental contract (hyresrätt), or
• the letting is for leisure purposes.

If you fall outside the Act, the rules do not disappear — the Rent Act (ch. 12 of the Land Code) applies instead, and it is considerably stricter on the landlord.

The exception that matters most in practice: if you sublet a hyresrätt, the Private Rental Act never applies to you. The utility-value principle governs the rent, you may add at most 15 % for furniture, your tenant can reclaim excess rent 24 months back (ch. 12, s. 55 e of the Land Code), and knowingly charging an unreasonable rent is a criminal offence. The headlines about "freer rent setting" do not apply to you. See our guide on when the Private Rental Act applies and when the Rent Act does.

2. Two homes — and two standard deductions

The old Act covered only "the first letting". Let a second home and it fell under the Rent Act, with security of tenure and utility-value rent as the consequence. That limit is gone.

The wording matters: there is no ban on letting three homes. The rule says the Act does not apply if you regularly let more than two. Cross that line and every one of your lettings changes regime — which is why two is a limit to stay inside deliberately, not one to drift past.

Tax-wise this is better than most people assume. The standard deduction of SEK 40,000 applies per home per year (ch. 42, s. 30 of the Income Tax Act), not per person. Let two homes and you get SEK 80,000 in standard deductions. Co-owners share the deduction in proportion to their share — two owners with half each deduct SEK 20,000 apiece.

3. Free rent setting — with a new ceiling

Landlord and tenant agree the rent, and the rent must be stated as a fixed amount (ch. 2, s. 1). The old cost-based model — a reasonable return on market value plus operating costs — has been abolished. You no longer need to calculate your capital cost to justify the rent.

Instead, ch. 2, s. 5 provides new protection against excessive rent: the tenant may apply to the rent tribunal, which reduces the rent if it is substantially higher than the rent generally charged when similar or comparably sought-after homes are let under the same Act.

Read that again, because the benchmark is entirely new. Your rent is no longer compared with your costs, nor with the utility value of the municipal housing stock — it is compared with what other private landlords charge for equivalent homes. Two practical consequences:

1. Your mortgage rate is no longer your defence. A high capital cost justifies nothing, and a low one does not make your rent unreasonable.
2. The market is your defence. Save screenshots of comparable listings in the same area, same size, same standard, from the month you set the rent. That is the evidence a review will turn on.

The word substantially sets the threshold high: modest deviations upwards should not lead to any adjustment.

Index clauses are allowed — on conditions

You may agree that the rent changes according to an index (ch. 2, s. 4). An increase requires written notice, the new rent takes effect at the earliest one month after that notice, and the previous rent must have applied for at least one year. An index clause that does not meet those conditions is not something you can rely on.

The costly novelty: repayment for time already passed

Under the old Act the tribunal's decision only operated going forward — in practice, a landlord who had overcharged simply had to lower the rent. Now a decision applies from the date of the application, and if the rent is reduced for a past period the landlord must repay the excess with interest (ch. 2, s. 6).

A tenant who applies in month three of a two-year contract can therefore recover the difference for nearly the whole term. Set the rent as though it will be reviewed, because a review is now worth money to the tenant.

4. Notice period: three months — both ways

This is the change almost nobody wrote about, and it affects every contract you sign.

• Open-ended agreements: terminated to a month-end falling at the earliest three months after notice is given (ch. 6, s. 2).
• Fixed-term agreements: the agreement ends when the term ends, but the tenant may always terminate early on three months' notice (ch. 6, s. 1).

Under the old Act the tenant had only one month's notice. The periods are now symmetrical, which gives landlords a much better planning horizon — and tenants a longer commitment than they may expect. Check which Act governs your contract before counting days.

A landlord may terminate early only on the grounds listed in ch. 6, s. 3 — among them rent unpaid for more than two weeks, unauthorised subletting, serious disturbances, neglect of the property, or refusal of access. Several of those grounds also require that the tenant was given a chance to put things right. The fact that a fixed-term letting can no longer be broken early without cause is deliberate: the tenant should be able to rely on the term. If you need the home back on a particular date, sign a fixed-term agreement running to that date rather than counting on early termination.

5. Easier to sublet a bostadsrätt

The reform also amended the Cooperative Housing Act (1991:614). The grounds for permission are unchanged — you still need a reason and the board's consent, failing which the rent tribunal's permission — but earlier lettings are now taken into account only if the flat has been let to a significant extent.

That targets a well-known problem: an owner who had already let the flat during a stay abroad was refused the next time precisely because they had let it before. Normal, time-limited lettings should no longer count against you.

The same reform also made it easier to let to companies and to run shared-housing arrangements through new block-letting rules.

6. The deposit: the myth going around

Several articles claim that from 1 July 2026 you may take a deposit of up to three months' rent under the new Act. That is not correct.

The Private Rental Act contains no provision on deposits, and the Government's list of laws entering into force in mid-2026 contains no deposit legislation. The proposal for a regulated security deposit — capped at three months' rent and held by a third party or the county administrative board — comes from inquiry proposals (including Ds 2023:32) that have not become law.

What applies today is what applied before the reform: deposits rest on freedom of contract, one to two months' rent is customary, the money is not held in escrow, and you may only make deductions for what you can prove — unpaid rent or damage beyond normal wear and tear.

7. Tax on your rental income in 2026

The reform did not change the tax rules, but they decide your actual return. The surplus is taxed as capital income at 30 %.

Worked example: you let a co-op flat for SEK 12,000 a month (SEK 144,000 a year) and the monthly fee is SEK 3,500 (SEK 42,000 a year). Taxable surplus: 144,000 − 40,000 − 42,000 = SEK 62,000. Tax: SEK 18,600. Left after tax and fee: SEK 83,400.

Let two homes and, as noted, you get the standard deduction for each.

8. What about your existing contract?

The transitional rule is easy to read and easy to misunderstand: the 2012 Act was repealed, but still governs agreements entered into before 1 July 2026.

A contract from 2025 therefore lives on under the old regime — cost-based rent, one month's notice for the tenant, and no repayment for past periods. Two things follow:

1. Check the date your contract was signed before applying any rule in this article. The date of the agreement governs, not today's date.
2. Do not terminate a working tenancy merely to move under the new Act. It is a new tenancy that falls under the new law, and a termination for that purpose can cost more, and be more complicated, than the freer rent setting is worth. Take legal advice before reworking a running agreement.

Checklist before you sign

• Check that you do not regularly let more than two apartments — otherwise the Rent Act applies.
• Letting a hyresrätt? Utility value and the 15 % furniture cap apply, whatever the reform said.
• Put the agreement in writing and state the rent as a fixed amount; electricity, water and heating may be charged on actual consumption.
• Keep your rent comparison — dated listings for similar private lettings in the area.
• Decide between a fixed term and an open-ended agreement, and plan for three months' notice both ways.
• Want an index clause? Write it in, and remember the written-notice requirement and the minimum year between increases.
• Own a co-op flat? Get the board's consent in writing before the tenant moves in.
• Agree the deposit in the contract and write down what it may be used for, since the law is silent.

Frequently asked questions

When did the new Private Rental Act take effect?

On 1 July 2026. The Act is privatuthyrningslag (2026:772) and is based on Government Bill 2025/26:187, "A more flexible rental market".

How many homes may I let?

As many as you like — but the Act does not apply if you regularly let more than two apartments that are not part of your own home. Beyond that line the Rent Act applies instead, with utility-value rent and security of tenure.

Does the new Act apply when I sublet my hyresrätt?

No. Letting a home you hold under a first-hand rental contract is expressly excluded (ch. 1, s. 3). Chapter 12 of the Land Code applies.

How much rent may I charge?

You agree the amount freely. The rent tribunal can only reduce it if it is substantially higher than what is generally charged for similar private lettings.

Can the tenant reclaim money afterwards?

Yes. If the rent is reduced, the landlord must repay the excess with interest, counted from the date of application to the rent tribunal. That is new compared with the old Act.

What is the notice period?

Three months to a month-end, for both landlord and tenant, under ch. 6, ss. 1–2. Under the old Act the tenant had only one month.

May I take a deposit, and how large?

There is still no statutory rule on deposits. You agree the amount — one to two months' rent is common — and deductions may only be made for what you can prove.

Do the new rules apply to my existing contract?

No. Agreements entered into before 1 July 2026 continue to be governed by the 2012 Act (2012:978).

Sources

• Privatuthyrningslag (2026:772) — the Swedish Parliament
• Bill 2025/26:187 En mer flexibel hyresmarknad — the Government
• New rules for rental and cooperative housing, summer 2026 — the Swedish Courts
• Renting out a private home — the Swedish Tax Agency

This article is general information and does not replace legal advice in an individual case.