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RENTING IN SWEDEN

Looking to rent in Sweden? Here are 13 websites that can help

Finding a house to rent in Sweden can be hard, especially if you are new to the country or still learning the language. The Local has put together a list of 13 sites that may help you find your next home.

Published: 22 November 2018 00:00 CET
Looking to rent in Sweden? Here are 13 websites that can help
Finding a house to rent in Sweden can be a difficult matter. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

Samtrygg

Since 2013, Samtrygg has been providing safe and smooth sublets in Sweden. Each year, it facilitates the subleasing of 150,000 homes at a price agreed on by both parties. Samtrygg offers payment guarantee, sublet insurance and safe contracts and there’s good news for tenants – you won’t be required to pay a deposit or an advance.

Create a free Samtrygg profile and you’ll be notified when new accommodations become available

Blocket.se

As well as being a general classifieds site for everything from cars to the furniture to fill your new home with, Blocket offers a wide range of different accommodation options, from entire houses to single rooms, all over Sweden. Click on ‘bostad’, the ‘uthyres’ category if you’re looking to sub-let, then enter what exactly you’re looking for; alternatively, you can pay to post your own advert so potential landlords can contact you directly. Blocket is in Swedish only.


Photo: Screenshot/Blocket.se

Click here to browse sublets in Sweden on Samtrygg

Bostad Direkt

This website offers second-hand housing for both private people and businesses. Available in English, though many housing descriptions are in Swedish.


Photo: Screenshot/Bostad Direkt

Qasa

This website lists houses, apartments and rooms for rent. Available in English. It’s free to use but note that if you find a rental through Qasa, a portion of the rent goes to the site – this is included in the figures on the site, but may mean prices are slightly higher than average.


Photo: Screenshot/Qasa

Residensportalen

Over 3,000 sublets, both corporate and private are available on the site. The offers range from small city apartments to large family homes, and the site also has information on avoiding rental scams and how to calculate reasonable rent. Available in English. You can also access it via The Local’s property page.


Photo: Screenshot/Residensportalen

Andrahand.se

A website that offers a list of sublets available for rent, usually accompanied by pictures. In Swedish only. It’s free to sign up to contact landlords, or you can pay extra to get advance notice of new apartments, which may increase your chances of finding something.


Photo: Screenshot/Andrahand.se

BoPunkten.se

A register where you can look for accommodation to rent all over Sweden, focussing mainly on rooms in shared apartments and smaller apartments. To contact landlords, you need to sign up as a member, which costs 495 kronor for three months. In Swedish only.


Photo: Screenshot/BoPunkten.se

The Local’s Noticeboard

The forum enables you to search for accommodation, advertise available apartments or rooms and put out appeals for available apartments all over Sweden.


Photo: Screenshot/The Local noticeboard

Student housing

The Swedish Student Accommodation Association

The association runs a useful site to help students search for accommodation in all Swedish university towns and cities. You can choose the town or city you are interested in and see which companies offer student housing around that area. In Swedish only, but the linked websites may offer English language options.


Photo: Screenshot/Sök Studentbostad

Click here to browse sublets in Sweden on Samtrygg

Studentstaden

Owned by Uppsalahem AB (Uppsala’s leading housing company), the site offers over 3,000 student rooms and student apartments all over Uppsala. 


Photo: Screenshot/Studentstaden

Stifelsen Stockholms Studentbostäder

Stockholm’s biggest student housing provider, with nearly 8,000 rooms and apartments all over Stockholm, which are rented out through a waiting-list system. For the entire duration of the tenancy, you must be a member of the Student Union connected to the Stockholm Studenters Central Organization (the organization checks your status daily). Available in English.


Photo: Screenshot/SSSB

Studentbostäder

The website provides a list that shows numerous student housing agencies around Sweden so you can look for accommodation near you. In Swedish only, but some of the linked websites offer English language options.


Photo: Screenshot/Studentbostäder

Studentlya.nu

Sweden’s largest housing site for students. Landlords have the chance to rent out rooms and in some cases entire apartments on the site. Studentlya doesn’t own the properties themselves, but helps students find accommodation by connecting them to landlords. In Swedish only.


Photo: Screenshot/Studentlya

Click here to browse sublets in Sweden on Samtrygg

For members

PROPERTY

INTERVIEW: ‘Most foreigners in Sweden don’t know they can get back excess rent’

In Sweden, people subletting apartments are not allowed to charge more in rent than they themselves pay. But foreign subtenants don't always know this. We asked Roland Sjölin, lawyer at the Swedish Tenants' Association, about how to get back excess rent.

Published: 18 April 2024 15:19 CEST
Updated: 21 April 2024 08:12 CEST
INTERVIEW: 'Most foreigners in Sweden don't know they can get back excess rent'

More and more of the people asking the Swedish Tenants’ Association, Hyresgästföreningen in Swedish, for help with excess rent are foreigners, Sjölin told The Local in an interview.

“The problem is that if you’re coming from another country, and you’re subletting an apartment, you’re probably not familiar with the rules in Sweden, because in other countries, it might be okay to overcharge your tenants.” 

He said that clients from India in particular seeking help from the association were now “very common”. 

“Many people come here to work as engineers in the IT sector and then have to rent somewhere,” he said, adding that as a group Indians appeared to be “very aware of their rights.”

Sweden’s rental sector is heavily regulated, with first hand contracts negotiated between landlords and the Tenants’ Association, and the rent that can be charged for second-hand contracts limited to only a small fraction above what the first-hand renter pays. 

“You’re not allowed to make any profit subletting an apartment in Sweden,” Sjölin explains. “You can only charge the subletting tenant the same rent as you [the first-hand tenant] are paying to your landlord, and then you can add the costs for internet and electricity, and perhaps a parking lot, if that is included.” 

Tenants’ Association lawyer Roland Sjölin. Photo: supplied.

You can also add a påslag or “markup”, if you are renting out the apartment fully furnished, but this cannot exceed more than 15 percent of the rent. 

That doesn’t mean that most landlords follow the law. The competition for rental apartments, especially in Stockholm, is so intense, that unscrupulous sublet landlords often try to get away with charging well over the legal amount, charging what is known in Sweden as ockerhyra, or “excess rent” and hoping that their tenants are too desperate to complain.  

What many foreigners do not realise is that even after the rental period is over, they can still get back any excess rent they have paid by applying to the Rental Board or Hyresnämnden, which functions like a court judging rental disputes. 

“If you have the evidence then it’s fairly easy,” Sjölin said. “I get a new case every second week on repayment of unfair rent, and I think that I win most of them.” 

“Nowadays, you can get paid back excess rent up to 24 months back in time, so people tend to get more money,” he added. “In some cases, they can get 200,000 kronor. In other cases, perhaps it’s only 30,000 kronor or 60,000 kronor. It depends on how long you have rented the apartment, and how excessive the rent you’ve been paying has been.”

The first step is to establish what would have been a fair rent, either by asking your landlord what they themselves pay directly or by checking with the Tenants’ Association.

“Because we negotiate most rents in Sweden, we normally know what the firsthand rent is,” Sjölin explained.

Then you need to collect together your evidence.

“It’s a good thing to have a written contract and also papers from your bank showing that you paid rent every month, and perhaps photographs of the apartment, so the rental board can get an idea of the apartment you were renting and what would be a fair rent, and also the termination for the contract so you can show the court how long you’ve been living in the apartment.” 

But Sjölin underlined that since Sweden has free burden of evidence, none of this is essential. 

“Even if you’ve been paying in cash, if you have witnesses who can testify what you were paying each month, you still have a chance of getting your money back. It’s a bit more tricky, but I’ve won two cases like that this year.” 

People in Sweden, he explained, tend to wait until the rental period is over before seeking to get paid back excess rent rather than challenging their landlord while they are still living in the apartment. 

“You don’t have any legal protection for your home for the first two years, so if you bring the matter up with the person you’re renting the apartment from you risk losing your contract and having to move out, so most people wait until they’re supposed to move anyway,” he said.

If you apply to the rental board for a refund close to the day you move out, you can then make your landlord pay back all excess rent paid in the 24 months leading up to the date you contacted the rental board.

If you are a member of the Tenants’ Association, you can contact them and ask for help with your application, but there are also specialist companies, like Orimlig Hyra AB who will buy your case off you and give you a refund within 48 hours, saving you a long wait in exchange for a cut of the money reclaimed. 

Sjölin said that the rental board normally took about 8 months to come to a judgement, but that if the person with the first hand contract appeals, that could extend the waiting time by between six months and a year.

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