The laws when you buy a home

A bid does not bind – the contract does

In Sweden a bid is not binding – neither for you nor for the seller. A purchase of real property (a house, terraced house, holiday home, freehold flat) becomes valid only when you both sign a deed of purchase with the price and the seller's statement that the property is transferred. A purchase that does not meet this is void, and a side agreement on another price does not count (Land Code ch. 4 s. 1).

The same for a co-op flat: the contract must be written, signed by both and state the flat and the price (Co-operative Housing Act ch. 6 s. 4). Until then the seller may choose another buyer and you may walk away.

The agent keeps a list of bids – amount, time and conditions – and gives it to both buyer and seller when the deal is done (Estate Agents Act ch. 3 s. 18).

The duty to inspect and hidden defects

Houses and freehold flats. The property is defective if it does not match the contract or differs from what you could reasonably expect. But you cannot claim a defect you should have found in the inspection the house's condition, comparable houses and the circumstances called for – the duty to inspect (Land Code ch. 4 s. 19). So inspect carefully, ideally with a survey.

• Tell the seller within a reasonable time of noticing (s. 19 a).
• A claim lapses ten years after you took possession (s. 19 b).
• A price reduction keeps the reduced price in the same proportion to the agreed price as the value with the defect to the value without (s. 19 c).
• A business selling a house to you as a consumer cannot contract out of these rights (s. 19 d).

Co-op flats. A co-op flat is movable property, so the Sale of Goods Act applies: you cannot claim what you should have noticed if you inspected the flat – or ignored the seller's call to (s. 20). Give notice within a reasonable time, and at the latest two years after you received it (s. 32).

The agent – what they must do

The agent must look after both the seller's and the buyer's interests, even when the seller is the client (Estate Agents Act ch. 3 s. 1). The agent must:

• give you the advice and information you may need, tell you in advance how the sale works, tell you in writing of your duty to inspect and encourage you to inspect – and say so if they suspect something about the condition (s. 12);
• check who may sell and which mortgages, easements and rights burden the property – for a co-op flat whether it is pledged (s. 13);
• give you a property description: for a house the assessed value, area, running costs, mortgages and easements, the building's age and size (s. 14); for a co-op flat the association's name, share, fee and decided changes, indirect net debt and running costs – and the association's latest annual report and rules (s. 15);
• offer you a written housing-cost calculation (s. 16) and keep the list of bids (s. 18).

Fastighetsmäklarinspektionen supervises the agents (ch. 4).

The co-op flat – the association, the transfer and the board

You buy a share in an association and the right to live in the flat – no real property. So no title and no mortgage deeds.

• The board decides on membership. It may not refuse you if you meet the rules' conditions and the association should reasonably accept you (Co-operative Housing Act ch. 2 ss. 1, 3), and conditions on income, wealth or citizenship are void (ch. 2 s. 2).
• If membership is refused the transfer is void (ch. 6 s. 5).
• The association charges a deposit and an annual fee, and – if its rules say so – transfer and pledge fees (ch. 7 s. 14); the rules set the basis (ch. 9 s. 5).
• The agent gives you the association's latest annual report – read its debt per square metre and planned fee rises.

New: Lantmäteriet is building a national co-op register2026. The introduction act applies from 1 January 2027 and associations report their data by 31 December 2027. The register itself – where transfers and pledges will be registered and the association's pledge fee goes – applies from a date the government sets (Acts 2026:484 and 2026:485).

Title and registration

If you buy real property you must apply for title (lagfart) at Lantmäteriet within three months of the deed (Land Code ch. 20 ss. 1–2). Stamp duty is 1.5 % for private persons – SEK 15 for every full thousand – of the higher of the price and last year's assessed value (Stamp Duty Act s. 8), plus a fee of SEK 825. Seller and buyer are jointly liable for the stamp duty.

New mortgage deeds carry 2 % stamp duty (s. 24) and SEK 375 per deed. The deeds already in the property come with the purchase (Lantmäteriet).

The loan – the cap and amortisation

From 1 April 2026 the Act (2026:226) on limiting mortgage credit applies instead of Finansinspektionen's regulations:

• A new mortgage may be at most 90 % of the home's market value (s. 4; previously 85 %), a top-up at most 80 % (s. 5).
• Amortisation: at least 1 % a year above 50 % of the value, at least 2 % above 70 % (s. 7). The value is the one when you bought; the bank may revalue after five years at the earliest – or sooner if the value has changed markedly for a reason other than general price movements (s. 13).
• The stricter requirement – a further 1 % for loans above 4.5 times gross income – is gone. Existing loans do not change automatically; you agree that with your bank.
• New-builds: the bank may allow a pause in amortisation for up to five years for the first buyer (s. 10), and temporarily for special reasons (s. 9).

Tax – the gain, the deferral, interest and the property fee

• A gain: 22/30 of it is taxed at 30 % – 22 % of the gain. A loss: half is deductible (Income Tax Act ch. 45 s. 33, ch. 46 s. 18, ch. 65 s. 7).
• Deferral when you sell your permanent home – you lived there for at least the year before the sale or three of the last five years (ch. 47 s. 3; never a holiday home) – and buy a new one: at least SEK 50,000 and at most SEK 3,000,000; if the new home costs less than the sale price less selling costs you defer the same share of the gain (ch. 47; Skatteverket). The yearly charge on deferrals was removed from income year 2021.
• Interest deduction: 30 % of interest up to SEK 100,000 a year, 21 % above (ch. 67 s. 10).
• Municipal property fee on houses and freehold flats: 0.75 % of the assessed value, at most SEK 10,425 per residential building for 2026 – none for the first 15 years for new-builds with value year 2012 or later (Skatteverket; Act 2007:1398). Whoever owns the house on 1 January pays for the year.