Housing queues

Want to rent an apartment with a contract in your own name, a first-hand contract (förstahandskontrakt)? In several of the biggest cities, many rental apartments (hyresrätter) are let through a housing queue (bostadskö) run by the municipality. The apartment goes to the person who has queued longest and meets the landlord's requirements. So it pays to join early, and not to lose your place. Choose where you want to live.

• Your queue time (kötid) counts from the day you register or pay. Join now, even if you're not moving yet.
• Buying or selling a rental contract is a crime. Your queue time is personal and can't be passed on to anyone else.
• Subletting while you wait? Check the ad and the rent with the Rent check.

1. Register with Bostadsförmedlingen

   Bostadsförmedlingen i Stockholm (the Stockholm Rental Agency) is a company within the City of Stockholm. It allocates rental apartments across the whole Stockholm region. You can register if you're 18 or older and have a Swedish personnummer or samordningsnummer (coordination number). It doesn't matter where you live, or whether you already have a home.

   You register on the website and identify yourself with an e-ID (e-legitimation), such as BankID or Freja eID Plus. If you don't have an e-ID, customer service will help you register. Your queue time starts counting straight away.

   Bostadsförmedlingen: register (in Swedish) Without an e-ID (in Swedish) Waiting for a personnummer?
2. Pay the queue fee every year

   It costs SEK 200 a year to be in the queue. The first time, you can pay by Swish or card when you register. After that, you get an e-mail every year when it's time, and you can then pay by Swish or card on Mina sidor (My Pages) for 30 days. Otherwise you get a payment slip (betalningsavi) or e-invoice with a due date (förfallodag).

   If you haven't paid by the due date, your file becomes dormant (vilande): your expressions of interest are removed and you can't apply for homes. Pay within five months of the due date and you keep your queue time. If not, you're deregistered and lose all your queue time.

   Bostadsförmedlingen doesn't chase the fee. It's your responsibility to pay on time, even if the e-mail or the payment slip doesn't reach you. Put a reminder in your calendar that repeats every year.

   Paying from a foreign account?

   You can. The account number, IBAN and BIC are on Bostadsförmedlingen's queue fee page. Give the OCR number from your payment slip. A part payment doesn't count.

   Bostadsförmedlingen: pay the queue fee (in Swedish)
3. Keep your e-mail, phone and address up to date

   Bostadsförmedlingen sends payment e-mails and viewing invitations to the e-mail address you gave. A housing offer comes by text message and e-mail. It's your responsibility that your details on Mina sidor are correct. Check your spam folder too while you're applying.

   You can stay in the queue if you move, even abroad. Just change your address on Mina sidor.

   Bostadsförmedlingen: questions about registering (in Swedish)
4. Search for homes and register your interest yourself

   Bostadsförmedlingen doesn't send you vacant homes. You search the vacant homes on the website yourself and register your interest (intresseanmälan). Each home gets its own queue of the people who registered interest, and you can usually see your place in the ad.

   You can have at most three active expressions of interest at a time, except for new builds and senior housing. Read the landlord's requirements in the ad before you register interest.

   Ads are often up for only a few days, and new ones come every day. Log in often.

   Want a home sooner?

   • Look at new builds and at homes outside the inner city. Queue times there are often shorter.
   • Use the “Kort kötid” (short queue time) filter among the vacant homes.
   • With a short-term contract, student housing or Bostad snabbt, you keep your queue time.

   Bostadsförmedlingen: searching (in Swedish) Homes with short queue times (in Swedish)
5. Go to the viewing and answer in time

   If you're among those with the longest queue time, you get a viewing invitation by e-mail. The landlord decides how the home is shown: on site, by video or photos, or not at all. Some viewings are mandatory. Bring ID.

   After the viewing, answer yes or no on Mina sidor, sometimes as early as the next day. Only say yes if you want the home. If you have the longest queue time when the answer period ends, your yes is binding.

   If you back out after a housing offer (bostadserbjudande), or don't answer in time, you get a withdrawal (avhopp) on your record. Two withdrawals in six months block you from registering interest for three months. You keep your place in the queue.

   Bostadsförmedlingen: viewings and answers (in Swedish) Withdrawals (in Swedish)
6. Answer the offer and show your documents

   If you have the longest queue time and meet the requirements, you get a housing offer. It often has to be answered at a set time as early as the next working day. Before you get the offer, Bostadsförmedlingen runs a credit check (kreditupplysning) on you.

   Then you show documents proving that you meet the landlord's requirements. These are about, for example, your income being in proportion to the rent. There may also be a requirement that you have no payment remarks or debts with Kronofogden (the Swedish Enforcement Authority). Common documents:

   • your three latest payslips
   • an employment certificate from your employer, at most two months old
   • a certificate of studies, if you're applying for student housing

   Don't give notice on your current rental contract until the new landlord has approved you.

   Bostadsförmedlingen: the housing offer (in Swedish) Documents (in Swedish) Landlord's requirements (in Swedish)
7. Sign the contract and move in

   Bostadsförmedlingen puts you forward to the landlord, who checks your details one last time. If the landlord approves you, you sign the contract. After that, you deal with the landlord, not with Bostadsförmedlingen.

   You must give notice on, hand over or sell your current home, and register at the new address (folkbokföring) when you move in.

   When you sign an ordinary contract that runs until further notice, your queue time starts again from zero. You stay in the queue as long as you pay the fee. With a short-term contract, student housing or senior housing 65+, you keep your queue time.

   Someone offers you a contract for money?

   Say no. Buying a rental contract is a crime, and so is selling one. The penalty can be a fine or prison. You can give the police a tip on polisen.se, or call 114 14 and say “tips”.

   Bostadsförmedlingen: signing the contract (in Swedish) Polisen: tip off the police (in Swedish)

1. Create an account on boplats.se

   Boplats Väst, formerly Boplats Göteborg, is owned by the City of Gothenburg (Göteborg). There you apply for rental apartments in Gothenburg and in many municipalities in western Sweden.

   You can create an account from the day you turn 17, and apply for apartments from 18. The account is personal and linked to your personnummer or samordningsnummer. You can only have one account.

   You must confirm the account with an e-ID, such as BankID or Freja Plus. Otherwise you don't collect queue days and can't apply for apartments.

   Children who have turned 17?

   They can create their own account and collect queue days for free until they turn 22. A parent can't queue on a child's behalf.

   Boplats Väst: create an account (in Swedish) The BankID tool
2. Pay the yearly fee If you're 22 or older

   The yearly fee is SEK 200. For 17–21-year-olds it has been free since 1 January 2026. You can pay by card, Swish, bankgiro or e-invoice. With a foreign card or bank account, pay by card or by IBAN.

   You pay every year on the date you created your account. If you were under 22 when you registered, your payment day is your birthday instead. The payment slip is on Mina sidor at least 30 days before.

   If you don't pay in time, your account becomes inactive. You can't apply and you collect no new queue days, but the days you have are kept. After 24 months without payment, the account and all your queue days are deleted.

   Boplats sends no payment slips or reminders by post. Put a reminder in your calendar that repeats every year.

   Boplats Väst: pay the yearly fee (in Swedish)
3. Verify your e-mail and mobile, and fill in your profile

   Reminders and news about viewings arrive in your inbox on Mina sidor. You also get them by text message and e-mail, but only if you've verified your mobile number and e-mail address. It's your responsibility that your details are correct.

   Before you can register interest, fill in your profile on Mina sidor, including your estimated yearly income before tax. You can also choose up to six areas where you'd like to live. Your profile is matched against the landlord's requirements.

   Boplats Väst: contact details and profile (in Swedish)
4. Search and register your interest

   New apartments are published every day. You can have at most five expressions of interest at a time. With a watch (bevakning), you get an e-mail when a suitable apartment is published.

   The ad shows whether you meet the requirements and your place in the queue. If more than 50 people are ahead of you, the chance of a viewing is small.

   Short queue time?

   • Look at new builds. The rent is usually higher, so fewer people apply.
   • Look at short-term contracts. You keep your queue days.
   • Look at small apartments, such as one room or a small two-room flat.
   • Join several queues. With few queue days, it can pay to apply through several.

   In 2025, people who got a one-room apartment had queued 4.9 years on average. For four rooms it was 9.7 years.

   Boplats Väst: finding an apartment (in Swedish) For short queue times (in Swedish)
5. Go to the viewing and answer yes or no

   If you're invited to a viewing, you get a message on Mina sidor. After the viewing, answer yes or no on Mina sidor before the last answer date. If you can't go yourself, you can often send a friend or family member. The viewing information says whether that's allowed.

   With six or more no-answers in the past six months, you can't make new applications. No answer, or a yes you take back, also counts as a no. Each no disappears after six months.

   Before your details go to the landlord, Boplats calls you to ask whether you want to sign the contract. A yes on the phone is binding. If you change your mind without a valid reason, you can be blocked for three months.

   Boplats Väst: viewings (in Swedish) Letting rules (in Swedish)
6. Upload documents and sign the contract

   If the landlord has requirements for income or employment, upload documents on Mina sidor when you're invited to a viewing. These can be your employment contract or a certificate from your employer, and your three latest payslips. They must still be valid when you move in.

   Boplats runs a credit check and may ask your current or previous landlord for references for the past 24 months. If the landlord approves you, you get a time to sign the contract. You must move in, register at the address (folkbokföring) and live in the apartment.

   When you've signed the contract, your queue days are reset to zero. This doesn't apply to a short-term contract without security of tenure (besittningsrätt).

   Someone offers you a contract for money?

   Say no. Buying a rental contract is a crime, and so is selling one. The penalty can be a fine or prison. Boplats Väst can also block anyone who tries to sell or transfer their account. You can give the police a tip on polisen.se, or call 114 14 and say “tips”.

   Boplats Väst: from application to contract (in Swedish) Polisen: tip off the police (in Swedish)

1. Register with Boplats Syd

   Boplats Syd is owned by the City of Malmö and allocates rental apartments for private and municipal landlords in large parts of Skåne. You can join the queue from the calendar year you turn 16, and register interest in apartments from 18.

   You give your personnummer, name, phone number and e-mail address. If you don't have a Swedish personnummer, you give your date of birth instead. The registration is personal.

   Boplats Syd (boplatssyd.se, in Swedish)
2. Pay the queue fee within 60 days

   The queue fee is SEK 300 a year. Malmö's municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) sets it, and it has been the same since 2009. Your queue time counts from the day the payment reaches Boplats Syd's account.

   The first time, you have 60 days to pay. If you don't pay in time, your account is deactivated.

   If you change your mind, you have 14 days' right of withdrawal on your first payment. It doesn't apply if you've already registered interest in an apartment.

3. Pay every year and update your details

   When it's time to pay, you see a reminder on Mina sidor, and Boplats Syd sends a payment slip to your e-mail or to your registered address (folkbokföringsadress). You're responsible for paying on time, even if the slip doesn't reach you. With Autopay, the fee is taken from your card 30 days before the period ends.

   When your paid period ends, you have 60 days to pay. Meanwhile you can't apply for apartments. If you don't pay within 60 days, you lose your queue time.

   Also update your details on Mina sidor at least every six months, for example your income, workplace and how many people will live with you. Otherwise you can't register interest.

4. Apply for apartments whose requirements you meet

   Vacant apartments are usually advertised for three to seven days. You can only register interest where you meet the landlord's requirements. These are usually about income, payment remarks and how many people may live in the apartment.

   Boplats Syd has a straight queue: the apartment goes to the person who has queued longest among those who registered interest and meet the requirements.

   How long does it take?

   It varies a lot. In 2025 a third of the apartments went to someone with less than a year in the queue, and the average queue time was 3.2 years. In Malmö and the surrounding municipalities, queue times are usually longer than in other parts of Skåne. If you get an apartment marked “Behåll din kötid” (keep your queue time), you don't lose your queue time.

   Boplats Syd (boplatssyd.se, in Swedish)
5. Go to the viewing and say yes or no

   Those who have queued longest are invited to a viewing. It can also be a digital viewing, or no viewing at all. If you can't go to a mandatory viewing, several landlords accept that you send a representative (ombud).

   To say yes, you must have uploaded all mandatory documents on Mina sidor. You have until 23:30 on the weekday after the viewing. A yes is binding. A no doesn't affect your chances of getting another apartment.

   If you back out when you're number one, or don't sign the contract, you get a warning. Two warnings in twelve months block you for at least six months. If you miss three mandatory viewings you've said yes to within 24 months, you're also blocked for six months. Your queue time isn't affected.

6. Checks and contract

   Boplats Syd checks your documents, your folkbokföring and whether you have payment remarks or debts with Kronofogden (the Swedish Enforcement Authority), and runs a credit check. The landlord takes references from where you live now and makes the final decision. If you're approved, the landlord invites you to sign the contract.

   You must move in, register at the address and live in the apartment permanently. You can't apply for an apartment for someone else.

   When you've signed, your queue time is reset, and new queue time counts from the day you move in. You keep your queue time with student housing, short-term contracts and apartments marked “Behåll din kötid”.

   Someone offers you a contract for money?

   Say no. Buying a rental contract is a crime, and so is selling one. The penalty can be a fine or prison. You can give the police a tip on polisen.se, or call 114 14 and say “tips”.

   Polisen: tip off the police (in Swedish)

1. Find out which housing queue covers where you want to live

   Search your municipality's (kommun's) website for “bostadskö” or “bostadsförmedling”. By law, a municipality must arrange a housing agency (bostadsförmedling) if it's needed, sometimes together with other municipalities. Several queues cover a whole region.

   Uppsala Bostadsförmedling, for example, covers all of Uppsala County. There are also municipal housing agencies in Kungsbacka, Sigtuna and Växjö, among others.

   Uppsala Bostadsförmedling: how to rent an apartment Municipal housing agencies (in Swedish)
2. Join several queues, and do it early

   There are also private landlords and municipal housing companies that let their homes, fully or partly, through queues of their own. Check the websites of the biggest landlords in the municipality. With a short queue time, it can pay to apply through several.

   Queue time usually counts from the day you register or pay, so the earlier the better. Read each queue's rules: from what age you can join, what it costs and how you keep your place.

   Bostadsförmedlingen: other ways to find a home (in Swedish)
3. Check what you need for a contract

   The landlord sets the requirements. Common ones concern income, payment remarks and debts, references from where you live now, and how many people will live in the apartment. You prove this with documents, such as an employment certificate and your three latest payslips.

   You can often join a queue with a samordningsnummer. But to get a contract, you may need a personnummer. At Uppsala Bostadsförmedling, the credit check needs a Swedish personnummer. Students don't need one for student housing.

   Uppsala Bostadsförmedling: landlords' requirements (in Swedish) The Personnummer tool
4. Pay the fee and keep your details up to date

   A municipal housing queue may charge a queue fee for at most one year at a time, and the municipality sets the amount. Each queue has its own rules for when you pay and what happens if you miss it. If you miss a payment, you can lose all your queue time.

   Keep your e-mail, phone, address and income up to date, and log in often. Viewings and offers often have short answer times.

   Put a yearly reminder in your calendar for every queue you're in.

   Example: Uppsala Bostadsförmedling

   • You can join the queue from the year you turn 16.
   • The queue fee is SEK 305 a year. Under 18, you pay no fee.
   • If you don't pay within 60 days after your period ends, you're removed from the queue and your queue time is reset.
   • When you sign a contract, you pay an agency fee (förmedlingsavgift): SEK 800, or SEK 500 for student housing. A short-term contract costs nothing.

   Uppsala Bostadsförmedling: queue rules (in Swedish)
5. Sublet while you wait If needed

   While you wait, you can rent second-hand (i andra hand). Then the first-hand tenant is your landlord, and they must have permission to sublet. Check with the property owner that the person holds the lease and is allowed to sublet.

   Never pay in advance before you've seen the apartment and the contract is signed. Scam attempts are common.

   Someone offers you a contract for money?

   Say no. Buying a rental contract is a crime, and so is selling one. The penalty can be a fine or prison. You can give the police a tip on polisen.se, or call 114 14 and say “tips”.

   Rent check: the ad and the rent Polisen: tip off the police (in Swedish)