Move permanently to the holiday home

Move to the holiday home in six steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Check the drainage: if the house has a private drainage system, it must be usable all year round, and a change must be reported or requires a permit.

   § 13 § regulation on environmentally hazardous activities and health protection (1998:899), checked 6 October 2026

2. 2

   Step 2: Ask the building committee if the house meets the requirements for a permanent residence, for example accessibility and energy. our advice

3. 3

   Step 3: Check the heating and fireplaces. If they are used more, chimney sweeping and fire safety checks may need to be done more often.

4. 4

   Step 4: Change your waste collection subscription to a full-year subscription if the municipality has special subscriptions for holiday homes. our advice

5. 5

   Step 5: Terminate or sell your old home, and calculate the tax if you sell.

6. 6

   Step 6: Make sure flyttanmälan (notification of change of address) to Skatteverket at the latest one week after you have moved.

   § 25 § folkbokföringslag (1991:481), checked 3 October 2026

Should I be registered in the holiday home?

You are resident where you regularly spend your daily rest, which means at least once a week under normal living conditions. If you live in several places, it is decided where you have your actual home. Skatteverket writes that you are usually not registered in the summer cottage, but that you probably should be if you live there most of the time. If you live there for a certain period of up to one year, the registration does not change. If you move there permanently, you make flyttanmälan within a week.

Source: Skatteverket: Registered at the correct address.

Is a building permit required?

Building permit is required to start using a building for a substantially different purpose. Boverket writes that it is not a substantially different purpose to start using a holiday home as a year-round home, so no building permit or notification is required if you do not rebuild. But it is a changed use, so the requirements for a permanent home apply according to the rules for changing buildings. If the house does not meet the requirements, for example, for accessibility or energy saving, the building committee may require measures.

The municipality cannot decide in a detailed plan that a home should be a holiday home or a year-round home. However, it can indirectly restrict year-round residence, for example, by limiting the permitted building area.

Source: Boverket: Holiday homes (PBL knowledge bank), Boverket: Changed use (PBL knowledge bank), Boverket: Planning provision Homes (PBL knowledge bank).

Sewerage, chimney sweeping and waste collection

A private sewer that is to be used year-round must be approved. A sewer with a water toilet requires a permit from the municipality, and other sewers must be notified, even when they are changed. The sweeping periods depend on how much the fireplace is used: the Civil Defence Authority normally states six years for local fireplaces in holiday homes, and three years for a local fireplace for solid fuel that is used more. The municipality arranges waste collection, so ask if the subscription needs to be changed when you live there all year. More about water, sewerage and sweeping in the guide to moving to a house.

Source: Gothenburg City: Requirements for purification of private sewerage, Civil Defence Authority: Sweeping and fire safety control.

Mail

PostNord normally sends out mail every two working days. For the rarest areas there are special rules in PostNord’s state permission, according to the Post and Telecommunications Board. Do flyttanmälan to Skatteverket and the mail goes to the correct address, and order post-delivery if you want the mail from the old address with you for a while.

Source: PTS: PostNord's distribution model meets requirements in very sparsely populated areas (16 December 2024).

Tax and property fee

Holiday homes and houses for permanent residence are taxed on the same grounds as small houses, so the property fee is the same. If you sell your old home, the profit is taxed. A holiday home that you have already owned for a long time does not provide any deferment, since the replacement home must be purchased at the earliest on 1 January of the year before the year of sale. The rules are stated in the guide to capital gains tax and deferment.

Source: Skatteverket: Different types of small houses (property taxation), Skatteverket: Property fee and property tax, Skatteverket: Conditions for deferment.

The law behind it

The sections summarised, with a link to the legal text on riksdagen.se.