Subletting in Sweden 2026: how much rent is allowed, and how to spot a scam

In many places in Sweden there is a housing shortage. While you wait for a rental contract of your own, you can rent second-hand (i andra hand). But that can mean two different things, with different rules: you rent a rental apartment from the person who holds the contract, or you rent a house, a co-op apartment, an owner-occupied apartment or a room from a private person who owns the home. For the second case, a new law has applied since 1 July 2026. Here is how much rent is allowed, what you can do if you have paid too much, and the signs of a scam that the police warn about.

The rent tribunal, hyresnämnden, decides whether a rent is too high and whether you get money back. We checked the details on the pages of Sveriges Domstolar (the Swedish courts), Konsumentverket (the Swedish Consumer Agency) and Polisen (the Swedish Police), and in the law texts at Riksdagen (the Swedish Parliament), on 11 October 2026.

Two kinds of second-hand renting

The first-hand tenant (förstahandshyresgäst) is the person who has the rental contract directly with the landlord (hyresvärd). The rent tribunal (hyresnämnden) settles disputes between landlords and tenants, for example about whether a rent is unreasonable. There are several rent tribunals, and you turn to the one where the home is.

Not sure which kind yours is? Ask the landlord whether the home is a rental apartment (hyresrätt) or whether they own it.

Subletting a rental apartment: how much rent is allowed

When you rent a rental apartment from the first-hand tenant, that person is your landlord. That is who you turn to with demands and complaints. The rent must be reasonable (skälig) under chapter 12, section 55 of the Land Code:

• The starting point is often the rent that the first-hand tenant pays.
• Furnished apartment: the surcharge may be at most 15 percent of the first-hand rent.
• Electricity, broadband or a parking space included in the rent may not cost more than the actual costs, meaning what the first-hand tenant pays for them.
• If you only rent part of the apartment, such as a room, the rent is based on a share of the first-hand rent that matches how much of the apartment you rent.
• Tillval (agreed upgrades) can also count. That is when the first-hand tenant has agreed with the landlord on a higher standard in return for a higher rent.

An example: the first-hand rent is SEK 7,000 a month and the apartment is furnished. Then the surcharge may be at most SEK 1,050. If electricity and broadband are included, and the first-hand tenant pays SEK 400 for them, the highest rent is SEK 8,450 a month. Ask to see the first-hand contract or a hyresavi, the bill for the rent, so that you know what the first-hand rent is.

The first-hand tenant needs permission

• Permission from the landlord or the rent tribunal. To sublet, the first-hand tenant must first have it approved. Without permission, the first-hand tenant risks losing the apartment.
• Lodgers. If the first-hand tenant still lives there and rents part of the apartment to you, you are as a rule a lodger (inneboende). Then no permission from the landlord is needed.
• If the first-hand tenant’s contract ends. If the first-hand tenant ends their own contract, or is evicted, you must move. This applies even if your notice period has not run out. If this has caused you extra costs, you may have the right to claim compensation from the first-hand tenant. Keep receipts.

Have you paid too much rent?

If you have sublet a rental apartment and paid an unreasonable rent, you can apply to the rent tribunal to get back the part of the rent that was too high. You can also apply for a lower rent for the rest of your time there.

• Up to two years back. A decision on repayment can cover rent for up to two years, counted back from the day you apply. This applies to contracts made after 1 October 2019. For older contracts, it is one year.
• Apply at the latest three months after you have moved out, meaning within three months of the day the lease ended.
• You can apply while you still live there. Then the rent tribunal also sets the rent for the time that remains.

The rent tribunal decides what a reasonable rent is and whether you get money back. Work out the highest rent for a sublet rental apartment in our Rent check tool before you apply.

Renting from a private owner: the new law since 1 July 2026

Do you rent a house, co-op apartment, owner-occupied apartment or a room from a private person who owns the home? Then the private rental act (privatuthyrningslagen, SFS 2026:772) has applied since 1 July 2026. It replaced the act on renting out your own home (lagen om uthyrning av egen bostad). The private person who rents to you is your landlord.

The law does not apply:

• if the landlord regularly rents out more than two apartments that are not part of the landlord’s own home,
• if the home is rented out for leisure purposes, or
• if the landlord rents the home with a rental contract (hyresrätt) themselves. Then it is a sublet of a rental apartment, and the rules above apply.

The rent

• The rent is what you agree on. The old rule, where the rent was worked out from the home’s market value and the interest rate, does not apply to new contracts.
• If you think the rent is too high, you can apply to the rent tribunal. If the rent is substantially higher (väsentligt högre) than what is generally charged for similar homes rented out privately, the rent tribunal can set a reasonable rent. It then compares first of all with such private rentals (chapter 2, section 5 of the private rental act). So there is no simple formula.
• A lower rent applies from the day you apply, unless the rent tribunal decides otherwise. If the rent is lowered for time that has already passed, the landlord must pay back what you paid too much, with interest (chapter 2, section 6). Rent you paid before you applied is usually not paid back, so don’t wait to apply.

Konsumentverket writes that a lower rent applies from the rent tribunal’s decision. The law says it applies from the day you apply, unless the rent tribunal decides otherwise. The rent tribunal decides.

Staying and moving out

• No right to stay. You have no right to have the contract extended against the landlord’s will, however long you have lived there.
• You can always give notice, even on a fixed-term contract. The contract then ends at the turn of the month that comes at least three months after your notice.
• Appeal. The rent tribunal’s decision on the rent can be appealed within three weeks. The appeal is heard by Svea hovrätt (the Svea Court of Appeal).

Did you sign the contract before 1 July 2026?

Then the old law (2012:978) on renting out your own home still applies to your contract.

• First tell the landlord in writing that you want the rent changed. If you can’t agree, you can apply to the rent tribunal.
• The rent tribunal starts from the home’s costs. It can set a rent that does not clearly (påtagligt) exceed a reasonable interest on the home’s market value plus the running costs.
• A new rent applies from the day you apply at the earliest.

How to apply to the rent tribunal

The application must be in writing, and it is free.

1. Find out which rules apply. If you rent a rental apartment from the first-hand tenant, chapter 12 of the Land Code (jordabalken) applies. If you rent a house, co-op apartment, owner-occupied apartment or a room from a private person who owns the home, the private rental act applies, or the old law if you signed the contract before 1 July 2026.
2. Apply in time. For a sublet rental apartment: at the latest three months after you have moved out, or while you still live there. When you rent from an owner, a lower rent usually applies from the day you apply, so don’t wait. With a contract from before 1 July 2026, first tell the landlord in writing that you want the rent changed.
3. Gather your evidence. Keep the contract, receipts for what you have paid, and letters, emails or text messages between you and the landlord. The rent tribunal does not investigate on its own, so it is up to you to hand in what is needed.
4. Write the application. Use form HN1 or write your own letter. Give your name, personnummer, address, phone number and email address, the other party’s contact details, the home’s address and property designation (fastighetsbeteckning), what you ask for and why. The property designation is the property’s official name and number.
5. Send it to the right rent tribunal. Send the application and copies of your evidence to the rent tribunal where the home is, by email or through the e-service. In the e-service, choose “Ärende Hyres- och arrendenämnden” (a case for the rent and tenancy tribunal). You find the right tribunal with the home’s postcode on domstol.se. If you send it by email, the attachments should be PDF files.
6. Go to the meeting. The rent tribunal sends your application to the other party and usually calls you both to a meeting (sammanträde) at the tribunal, sometimes by video or phone. You can also reach an agreement there. The rent tribunal decides.

Want help? Members of Hyresgästföreningen (the tenants’ union) get advice on their housing and legal help if needed.

Signs of a scam

The housing shortage is sometimes exploited by scammers, and apartment scams happen all year round, the police write. A common pattern is an apartment advertised online, often with an attractive address and a reasonable rent. The scammers usually demand several months’ rent in advance or as a deposit (deposition), a security paid in advance. Scammers have also copied ads for co-op apartments for sale and turned them into sublet ads.

Never pay anything, neither a deposit nor rent, before you have seen the home and the contract is signed. If the landlord wants payment before you have met, it suggests fraud, the police write.

The police’s advice

• Check that the apartment exists. The ad may be copied from an ad for a co-op apartment that is for sale.
• Check with the property owner (fastighetsägaren) that the person really holds the apartment and has permission to sublet it.
• Find the phone number yourself. Be careful if the landlord sends emails with links to the “property owner”. Scammers have made fake websites with phone numbers that go to an accomplice. Check the landlord’s name, find the number yourself and call. Do the details match the ad?
• Insist on ID from the landlord and on a written rental contract.
• Be alert if the landlord is abroad or can’t meet but still wants payment in advance.
• Don’t pay through anonymous payment services.
• Bring a friend or relative when you view the apartment. Two people find it easier to see through a scam.

The police also give general advice for deals online. Be alert if someone pushes you to decide. Never click a link that someone has sent you, and never use BankID or give out card details because someone else asks you to. Someone giving you their personnummer or account number does not protect you from being cheated.

Go through the ad point by point in our Rent check tool before you pay anything.

If you have been scammed

1. Contact your bank first. The bank may be able to stop the payment.
2. Report it to the police by calling 114 14 or going to a police station. Call 112 if the crime is happening now.
3. Save everything in writing, such as transfers, emails and text messages.

Brottsofferjouren (victim support) supports people who have been the victim of a crime. The support is free, and you can be anonymous.

In a housing queue?

Want a contract of your own? Join a housing queue as early as possible. Read how the housing queues work in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.

Summary

• If you sublet a rental apartment, the first-hand rent is the starting point. If the apartment is furnished, the surcharge may be at most 15 percent, and electricity, broadband and parking may cost at most what they actually cost.
• If you have paid too much for a sublet rental apartment, you can apply to the rent tribunal for money back for up to two years. Apply at the latest three months after you have moved out.
• If you rent from a private person who owns the home, the private rental act has applied since 1 July 2026. The rent tribunal can lower a rent that is substantially higher than for similar private rentals, usually from the day you apply.
• Never pay anything before you have seen the home and the contract is signed. Check with the property owner that the landlord holds the apartment and may sublet it.
• If you have been scammed: contact your bank first, then report it to the police on 114 14.

Sources

• Sveriges Domstolar: Skälig hyra vid uthyrning av bostad (in Swedish)
• Sveriges Domstolar: Hyra ut bostad i andra hand (in Swedish)
• Sveriges Domstolar: Nya regler för hyra och bostadsrätt sommaren 2026 (in Swedish)
• Sveriges Domstolar: Så ansöker du (in Swedish)
• Sveriges Domstolar: Blanketter (in Swedish)
• Sveriges Domstolar: Det händer i nämnden när du ansökt (in Swedish)
• Konsumentverket: Hyra hyreslägenhet i andra hand (in Swedish)
• Konsumentverket: Hyra bostad av annan privatperson (in Swedish)
• Polisen: Annonsbedrägeri (in Swedish)
• Riksdagen: Privatuthyrningslag (2026:772) (in Swedish)
• Riksdagen: Lag (2012:978) om uthyrning av egen bostad (in Swedish)
• Riksdagen: Jordabalk (1970:994), 12 kap. 55 och 55 f §§ (in Swedish)