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PROPERTY

How much does it cost to rent an apartment in Gothenburg?

The cost of renting an apartment directly in Gothenburg has risen by less than inflation, but the same can't be said for the price of sublets. Here's how much you can now expect to pay in Sweden's second city.

How much does it cost to rent an apartment in Gothenburg?
Central Gothenburg is predictably the most expensive area to rent an apartment in. Photo: Per Pixel Petersson/imagebank.sweden.se

Sweden’s housing market is tightly controlled, with rents from the big private and municipal landlords set in negotiations with the Swedish Tenants’ Association, or Hyresgästsförening. Subletting rents – theoretically at least – are supposed to cover the costs of the apartment without making a profit.

So far this year, the hikes agreed with the Tenants’ Association have been well below the headline rate of inflation, meaning rents are falling in Sweden in real terms. The latest statistics on sublets, meanwhile, indicate that, in many areas, rents have been falling even in nominal terms – without being adjusted for inflation.

“In the wake of economic crisis, interest rate hikes and inflation, more and more Swedes are seeing the need to rent out part or all of their property,” explained Fredrik Strömsten, chief executive of Qasa, which runs Blocket’s property listings site, in a report in April.

There had, he said, been an “explosive increase in the number of sublets”. 

How much does it cost to rent an apartment in Gothenburg directly?  

The most recent rental numbers from Statistics Sweden data back to the end of 2022.

These show that while upmarket areas like central Gothenburg, Majorna and Härlanda are the most expensive areas to rent in, so-called “first-hand apartments” (apartments rented directly via the municipality’s housing queue) there are only about a third more expensive than those in much less desirable areas of the city, such as Västra Hisingen. 

These figures, however, give quite a misleading idea of the real cost of living in these parts of the city.

With queues for rental apartments in Majorna and Central Gothenburg running to about ten years, most foreigners coming to Sweden’s second city are unlikely to ever get a chance to rent at such rates.

Nonetheless, rents across Sweden are rising more slowly than inflation and Gothenburg is no exception. According to Hem & Hyra, the news site run by the Tenants’ Association, the big four municipal landlords with a total of 75,000 tenants agreed to hike rents by 4.25 percent in May, while private landlords with a total of 35,000 tenants agreed to hike rent by between 2.25 percent and 4.2 percent. 

The Tenants’ Association said it had bargained them down from an initial offer of 9.73 percent. 

This means that if you’re lucky enough to get to rent an apartment directly from a municipal or private landlord, you can expect to pay just over 4 percent more than the numbers in the table above.

What are rents like outside Gothenburg? 

If you decide to live in the municipalities outside Gothenburg, such as Kungälv, Mölndal, Härryda, and Lerum, rent can be cheaper and housing queues shorter, but it can also more expensive if you live in the most desirable municipalities such as Partille and Ale. 

How much does it cost to sublet an apartment in Gothenburg?

As a foreigner coming to Sweden, you are much more likely to end up subletting an apartment, using sites like Blocket or The Local’s own rental platform. And although Sweden’s rental rules are designed to prevent subletting for profit, in reality you will often find yourself paying a hefty premium.

Across most of Sweden sublet rents are stable or falling as cash-strapped renters are forced to sublet rooms or their entire apartments, but Gothenburg is something of an exception to this trend. 

The median rent for sublets in the city shot up by 12.7 percent between the first three months of 2022 and the first three months of 2023, increasing by as much as 21.2 percent in the Västra Göteborg district and by 15 percent in Örgryte-Härlanda. 

The rise in sublet rentals appears to have slowed down however, with only a slight increase between the last three months of 2022 and the first months of 2023.  

As you might expect, sublets in areas like Gothenburg Centrum, Majorna, Askim, Frölunda and Högsbo are the priciest, with sublet apartments going for roughly double what you would pay if you were lucky enough to get a direct lease on an apartment in these areas.  

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PROPERTY

For sale: Swedish land for 1 krona per square metre – on one condition

A Swedish municipality is looking to tempt more people to move to the area by offering heavily discounted plots of land.

For sale: Swedish land for 1 krona per square metre – on one condition

Located in a beautiful part of Sweden on the southern shore of Lake Vänern, Götene municipality has a lot going for it.

But it is struggling with an ageing population and low birth figures.

The housing market in Götene, as far as new-builds are concerned, has been slow since the economic downturn, mayor Johan Månsson told The Local.

The new campaign, which allows buyers to pay just one krona per square metre of land, is an attempt to give it a nudge in the right direction.

“It costs a lot of money to build a house, and the price of land isn’t the be all and end all, but it’s an important part of that,” Månsson said.

“If this campaign means that a family, for example, has the courage to build a house here despite the current economic situation, that would be fantastic.”

Interest rates are starting to drop in Sweden, but despite this, families are still being cautious when it comes to the property market.

“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions, like this campaign,” he said.

Hällekis, where two of the one krona per square metre plots have already been sold. Photo: Götene Municipality

The campaign has been in place for roughly one month.

“I can’t describe it as anything other than a success,” Månsson said, adding that estate agents responsible for selling the plots of land have seen a lot of interest, despite the fact that some of the plots in question had already been on the market for a long time – up to 40 years in some cases.

“Some of these plots have been on sale for many years, often many decades, as they’ve more or less been forgotten about.”

He added that they have had almost 20 expressions of interest, selling three plots in the last month or so.

“We’ve really succeeded. If just one family moves here, then we’ve recouped the cost of this campaign many times over. Every new taxpayer is an important economic asset for a small municipality like Götene.”

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Far from all the municipality’s plots are for sale, rather those included in this campaign are what Månsson refers to as strötomter, single plots which are scattered all over the municipality and are primarily located in built-up areas.

“They’re not whole housing estates or plots on new housing estates,” he said. “Most of them are in smaller areas where there hasn’t been a great deal built in recent decades.”

You can take a look at available plots in Götene municipality here, with many selling at a 98 or 99 percent discount. Scroll down and click on Tryck här för att se aktuella tomter i…, with plots of land divided up by town or settlement.

Götene municipality is a popular area for tourists from Sweden and elsewhere, and there are no barriers for foreigners interested in moving to the area.

“Absolutely anyone is welcome to buy one of the plots,” Månsson said. “There are no rules or requirements as to who is allowed to buy one. It would be absolutely fantastic if we could get people from abroad interested in buying plots here, too.”

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The only requirement for interested buyers is that they must begin construction on their plot within two years of the purchase date, otherwise it will be given back to the municipality.

The campaign will be running throughout 2024 and 2025, Månsson said.

“After that it probably won’t be continued, as the economy will most likely go back to normal. But, of course, we’ll discuss that in the future.”

Götene isn’t the first municipality to offer plots of land at such a discount.

Hylte municipality, around three hours to the south, launched a similar campaign earlier this year, offering 54 plots of land for just one kronor per square metre.

Hylte, like Götene, is a small municipality in need of new residents. Ronny Löfquist, chairman of Hylte municipality, described their campaign to public broadcaster SVT as a “great success”.

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