Rent apartment: how housing queues work

Rent an apartment in seven steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Find out if the town has a municipal housing agency or if each landlord has their own queue. The list below shows this for 24 towns.

2. 2

   Step 2: Register with the housing agency's queue and with the landlords who have their own queues. Log in as often as the rules require, otherwise your points may disappear.

3. 3

   Step 3: Also register on marketplaces where private landlords advertise, such as HomeQ. our advice

4. 4

   Step 4: Only apply for apartments where you meet the landlord's income and employment requirements.

5. 5

   Step 5: Sign the contract directly with the landlord. Never pay anyone to get a contract.

   § 12 kap. 65 § jordabalken (1970:994), checked 3 October 2026

6. 6

   Step 6: Terminate your current rental apartment in writing. The notice period is three months to the end of the month.

   § 12 kap. 4 § jordabalken (1970:994), checked 3 October 2026

   § 12 kap. 8 § jordabalken (1970:994), checked 3 October 2026

7. 7

   Step 7: Make flyttanmälan (notification of change of address) to Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) at the latest one week after the move.

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

Housing queue: how the queues work in 24 cities

There is no common housing queue for the whole of Sweden. Here's what applies in the cities we have guides for. More about moving to each city can be found on the city's page.

Stockholm

The Housing Agency in Stockholm AB is owned by the city. It costs 200 kronor per year to be registered in the queue. The average waiting time in 2025 for regular rental apartments was 9.0 years, and 21 years in the city centre. More in the guide to the housing queue and other ways to get a home in Stockholm.

Source: Bostadsförmedlingen i Stockholm, Bostadsförmedlingen: Fee, Bostadsförmedlingen: The year in summary, Bostadsförmedlingen: How long does it take?.

Gothenburg

Rental apartments in western Sweden are brokered by Boplats Göteborg AB (Boplats Väst), which is owned by Göteborgs Stadshus AB. Apartments go by queue time to those who meet the landlord's conditions. The annual fee is 200 kr for anyone aged 22 or over, and without a paid fee you cannot apply or collect queue days. You can register interest in five apartments at a time. Boplats gives no general queue time, as it depends on apartment type, area and number of interested applicants.

Source: Boplats Väst: Kontakt, Boplats: Betala årsavgiften, Boplats: Förmedlingsreglerna, Boplats: Hur lång tid tar det.

Malmö

Boplats Syd is a municipal housing agency with a regional remit, wholly owned by Malmö stad. It lets rental apartments from over 90 private and municipal landlords in Skåne. The annual fee is 300 kronor and queue time counts from the payment. In 2025 the average queue time was 3.2 years and the median queue time 2.1 years.

Source: Boplats Syd: About Boplats Syd, Boplats Syd: How it works, Malmö stad: Find a plot and housing.

Uppsala

Uppsala Bostadsförmedling AB is a wholly municipal-owned company that arranges rental apartments from private and municipal landlords in the Uppsala region. The queue costs 305 kronor a year including VAT; you can register from the year you turn 16 and pay the fee from 18. If you are offered a home through the queue, it costs 800 kronor, or 500 kronor for a student home.

Source: Uppsala Bostadsförmedling: Organisation, Uppsala Bostadsförmedling: Our mission, Uppsala Bostadsförmedling: Queue and allocation rules.

Linköping

The municipality's page about landlords mentions no municipal housing agency. Stångåstaden has its own housing queue where you collect one queue point per day and must log in at least once a year to keep your points.

Source: Linköpings kommun: Hyresvärdar i Linköping, Stångåstaden: Köpoäng.

Västerås

The municipality does not arrange housing; the municipal company Bostads AB Mimer does. You get one queue point per day from the day you register, and you must log in to My Pages at least once every twelve months to keep your points. The municipality's page also lists some forty private landlords.

Source: Västerås stad: Find housing, Mimer: About queue points.

Örebro

Örebro municipality has no housing agency of its own. The municipality's page points to Örebrobostäder AB (ÖBO), which the municipality calls the largest landlord in Örebro, and lists other housing companies. ÖBO has its own queue with points: it is free and you collect one point per day.

Source: Örebro municipality: Finding a home, ÖBO: Search rules and ÖBO points.

Helsingborg

There is no municipal housing agency in Helsingborg. You contact the landlords directly or search through Boplats Sverige. Helsingborgshem is owned by the City of Helsingborg, has about 12,000 flats and its own queue with queue points. You can register from age 16.

Source: Helsingborgs stad: Bostäder, Helsingborgshem: Om oss.

Jönköping

Jönköping municipality has no shared housing agency with apartments to let. You register with each landlord. The municipality lists about 30 landlords and housing companies, including Vätterhem, Junehem, Willhem, Heimstaden, Lundbergs, Riksbyggen, HSB and Nivika.

Source: Jönköpings kommun: Tips för att hitta bostad, Jönköpings kommun: Bostadsbolag och hyresvärdar.

Norrköping

The municipality's page about finding housing refers to hyresbostader.se and studentbo.se, and we found no municipal housing agency. Hyresbostäder has its own queue with queue points for apartments, student apartments, parking spaces and storage. You can register from the age of 16 but must be 18 to sign a tenancy agreement. Studentbo gives a housing guarantee to students admitted to Linköpings universitet and some YH programmes.

Source: Norrköpings kommun: Find housing, Hyresbostäder i Norrköping: How to apply for a vacant home, Studentbo: Housing guarantee.

Umeå

Umeå kommun has no housing agency. The municipality's page on housing lists the landlords, with Bostaden first: the public housing company has about 15,000 apartments and 5,000 student rooms, all searchable online. At Bostaden, you register from the year you turn 16 at the earliest and build up queue points; the eight with the most points get an offer. You must log in at least once a year, otherwise your page is deactivated.

Source: Umeå kommun: Housing, Bostaden: Applying for an apartment.

Lund

The municipality refers to LKF for municipal rental apartments. You can join LKF's queue from 16 years old, the queue is free and you get one point per day. You must log in to Mina sidor at least once per calendar year, otherwise you will be deleted. Students at Lund University apply to AF Bostäder, whose queue for the spring term 2027 opens on 9 December.

Source: Lund municipality: Find housing, LKF: How to apply for housing, AF Bostäder.

Borås

There is no municipal housing agency in Borås. You sign up with each landlord. At Bostäder i Borås, you register first to collect queue points and be able to apply. At Sandhultsbostäder in Sandared, you get one point per day in the queue.

Source: Borås Stad: Find housing, Housing in Borås: Questions and answers about housing queue and purchase points, Sandhultsbostäder: Rental policy.

Eskilstuna

There is no municipal housing agency in Eskilstuna. The municipality's company Kfast has its own housing queue, which is free. You get one point per day and lose all points if you do not log in at least every twelfth month. You can register interest for three apartments at a time. Apartments marked Bostad direkt can be applied for without queue points.

Source: Eskilstuna kommun: Find housing, Kfast: How the housing queue works.

Halmstad

Halmstad municipality has no official housing agency. You contact housing companies or real estate agents yourself. At HFAB, the municipality's property company, the queue is free. You can register from 16 years old and apply for apartments from 18 years old. You confirm your queue place at least once every 365 days on Mina sidor, otherwise the queue points will disappear. Most apartments are allocated based on queue points, and some through a lottery, and you can apply for up to ten apartments at the same time.

Source: Halmstad municipality: Find housing, HFAB: How to apply for housing.

Gothenburg

The municipality’s page on finding housing refers to a list of landlords and does not mention any municipal housing agency. At Gavlegårdarna, the municipally owned housing company, you can register in the queues when you turn 16. There are four queues: apartment, student apartment, parking space and storage. You get one point per day and must log in at least every twelfth month, otherwise you lose the points. You can make an interest notification from the age of 18, up to five at a time.

Source: Gävle municipality: Find a home, Gävle municipality: Landlords, Gavlegårdarna: How to rent an apartment.

Sundsvall

The municipality of Sundsvall has no housing agency, but lists property owners, and each landlord has their own queue. At Mitthem, the municipality's housing company, you get one point per day in the queue. You keep the points if you log in at least once every six months.

Source: Sundsvall municipality: Find accommodation, Mitthem: Become a tenant.

Gothenburg

Karlstad municipality has no housing agency. The municipality refers to KBAB, the municipally owned housing company, and lists about forty other housing companies that have chosen to be visible there. To apply for an apartment with KBAB, you must be in the company's queue and collect queue points; the five with the most points get a viewing. Log in at least once a year, otherwise the points disappear.

Source: Karlstad Municipality: Housing companies and property owners, KBAB: How to apply for housing.

Växjö

Boplats Växjö is the municipality's housing queue. It costs 125 kr per year from the year you turn 20, and you can register from 17 years old. You get one queue point per day. The student housing queue is free, and apartments under Poängfritt can be applied for without queue points. All Vidingehems apartments are allocated through Boplats Växjö.

Source: Boplats Våxjö, Vidingehem: How to rent.

Kalmar

The municipality's page on finding housing refers to the landlords themselves, as well as Boplats Sverige and HomeQ. At Kalmarhem, you register on Mina sidor and get one queue point per day. The offers go to the applicants with the most points. A new rental policy applies from 5 October 2026.

Source: Kalmar kommun: Find housing, Kalmarhem: Become an applicant.

Karlskrona

The municipality's page Find housing lists landlords that you contact yourself, with Karlskronahem first. To apply for an apartment with Karlskronahem, you need to be in the company's housing queue. You can register from 16 years old and sign a contract from 18. You get one point per day and must log in at least once a year, otherwise the points will be reset. The apartments are allocated either by queue points or via Bodirekt.

Source: Karlskrona kommun: Find housing, Karlskronahem: Apply for housing, Karlskronahem: Queue rules and rental policy.

Gotland

The region's housing page refers to Gotlandshem, the municipal housing company owned by Region Gotland, and does not mention any municipal housing agency. In Gotlandshem's housing queue, you can register from 16 years old and actively search for housing from 18. One day in the queue gives one point, and you must log in at least once a year. Gotlandshem also has queues for parking and storage.

Source: Region Gotland: Housing and living environment, Gotlandshem: Housing queue and how to search for housing.

Falun

Kopparstaden is the council's housing agency. You can join the queue from the age of 16 and apply for an apartment from 18. You get one queue point per day, and the points are reset when you get an apartment. Log in to My pages at least once every 12 months, otherwise the points will disappear. The council also lists private landlords with their own queues.

Source: Falun Municipality: Rental apartments, Kopparstaden: Housing queue, Kopparstaden: Queue points.

Nyköping

The municipality refers to the landlords and to Home Q, where you can search for available rental apartments from several landlords in Nyköping. No municipal housing agency is mentioned. Nyköpingshem, which is owned by the municipality and is the largest, has its own housing queue that is free. You collect queue points and must log in and update your information once a year to keep them. Apartments in Poängfritt are rented out without queue points. You can get priority if you live at least ten miles away and get a permanent employment or start an education in Nyköping.

Source: Nyköping municipality: Rent a home, Nyköpingshem: Join the housing queue, Nyköpingshem: Who can rent

In Gothenburg, there is a guide with Boplats rules, queue times and municipal housing companies: rent a flat in Gothenburg. For Stockholm, Bostadsförmedlingens rules and queue times per district are in Stockholm housing queue.

Where can I find available apartments and rental housing?

Available rental apartments are advertised where the queue is: with the housing agency, on the landlords' own websites and on marketplaces. HomeQ is a marketplace where landlords such as Balder, Riksbyggen, Stena and Willhem advertise, and you collect queue points for free. Many municipalities also list the landlords in the area on their website, for example Jönköping with around 30 landlords and Västerås with around 40 private landlords.

Source: HomeQ: Sweden's rental market, Västerås city: Find housing, Mimer: About queue points, Jönköping municipality: Tips for finding housing, Jönköping municipality: Housing companies and landlords.

Private landlords and their queues

In cities without municipal housing agencies, each landlord has their own queue, and most of them follow queue points, often one point per day. This applies to both the municipal housing company and the private landlords. Several queues require you to log in regularly: with Mimer in Västerås at least once every 12 months and with Mitthem in Sundsvall at least every 6 months. Therefore, register with several landlords at the same time and check the rules for each one.

Source: Västerås city: Find housing, Mimer: About queue points, Örebro municipality: Get housing, ÖBO: Search rules and ÖBO points, Sundsvall municipality: Find accommodation, Mitthem: Become a tenant.

First-hand contract: can you get one without a queue?

With a first-hand contract, you rent directly from the landlord and have, as a general rule, protection against eviction. Without a long queue time, the chance is greatest with landlords who do not allocate all apartments based on queue time. At Stena Fastigheter in Gothenburg, for example, some apartments on Mina sidor go to the one who gets there first.

Source: Stena Fastigheter: Rent an apartment.

Anyone who offers a first-hand contract for payment commits a crime. Demanding or receiving compensation for transferring a rental apartment can result in imprisonment for up to two years, and the person who pays for an exchange can lose the rental apartment.

Source: Jordabalken, 12 kap. (riksdagen.se). 12 kap. 42, 45, 46 and 65 §§ jordabalken.

Rent a house or terraced house

Houses and terraced houses are often rented out by private individuals. For agreements from 1 July 2026, the Private Rental Act (2026:772) applies when a private individual or an estate rents out a house or part of a house as a home. You agree on the rent, but hyresnämnden can reduce it if it is significantly higher than for similar privately rented homes. The law does not provide any right to extension, so you have no protection against termination. An agreement that continues until further notice can be terminated to a month-end change at the earliest three months after the notice, by both of you.

If the garden is included, the law also applies to it. Write in the contract who takes care of the lawn, snow shovelling and rubbish bins. If you rent a terraced house as a rental apartment from a housing company, 12 chap. jordabalken applies instead, just like for an apartment.

Source: Private Rental Law (2026:772) (riksdagen.se), Jordabalken, 12 kap. (riksdagen.se). 1 kap. 1 and 2 §§, 2 kap. 1 and 5 §§ and 6 kap. 1 and 2 §§ Private Rental Law.

Rent a flat privately

If you rent a tenant-owned apartment from a private person, the Private Rental Law also applies, and the owner needs the board's consent. If you rent a rental apartment in the second hand from the one who has the first-hand contract, jordabalken applies: the rent must not be higher than the first-hand rent with an addition for furniture and amenities, and you have no protection against termination during the first two years. Read more in the guides on renting in the second hand, rental contracts and lodger.

Source: Private Rental Law (2026:772) (riksdagen.se), Tenant-owned Apartment Law (1991:614), 7 chap. (riksdagen.se), Jordabalken, 12 chap. (riksdagen.se). 1 chap. 1 § Private Rental Law, 7 chap. 10 and 11 §§ bostadsrättslagen (the Swedish Housing Cooperatives Act), 12 chap. 45 and 55 §§ jordabalken.

Rental apartment, tenant-owned apartment or cooperative rental apartment?

With a rental apartment, you rent from a landlord according to 12 chap. jordabalken and have protection against eviction. A tenant-owned apartment is only granted to a member of the tenant-owned apartment association, for a fee and without time limit. You must then maintain the flat at your own expense and if you want to sublet it, you need the board's consent. A cooperative rental apartment is in between: a cooperative rental apartment association rents out flats to its members, the association must rent out at least three flats, and members can pay a fee.

The choice between buying or renting is about more than the price. In a tenant-owned apartment, you are responsible for the condition of the apartment, while a tenant can cancel a contract and move out at the end of the month after three months.

Source: Jordabalken, 12 kap. (riksdagen.se), Tenant-owned apartment law (1991:614), 7 kap. (riksdagen.se), Law (2002:93) on cooperative rental apartment (riksdagen.se). 12 kap. 4 § jordabalken, 1 kap. 3 och 4 §§ and 7 kap. 10, 11 and 12 §§ bostadsrättslagen, 1 kap. 2 och 3 §§ and 2 kap. law (2002:93) on cooperative rental apartment.