New legislative proposals on presumptive rents and block rents

Background and mission

In the summer of 2023, the government appointed an inquiry to review the possibility of reforms in the rental market. The assignment primarily concerned the rules on the letting of housing by private individuals, but also so-called presumption rents for newly produced rental housing. An interim report on presumptive rents was submitted in September 2024 (SOU 2024:62, An improved model for presumptive rent). The proposal has now reached the stage of a draft bill to which the Council on Legislation has essentially had no objections (opinion on 23 May 2025). A bill for a vote in the Riksdag (bill) is expected in June.

Before the interim report on presumptive rents had been submitted, the Government extended the assignment to include rules on block rents and the letting of company housing. The final report in that part has now been submitted (SOU 2025:65, A more flexible rental market). The final report contains proposals for a new comprehensive private rental law and amendments to current rental legislation on block rent and professional brokerage of rental apartments. The consultation period ends on September 1, 2025, and a possible bill is expected to be presented in spring 2026.

According to the proposals, the new laws and amendments will enter into force in 2026 - the presumptive rents on January 1 and the others on July 1.

Presumptive rents - increased possibility to continuously increase rents for new buildings

As a general rule, the rent for a residential apartment must be set at a reasonable amount compared to other apartments that are equivalent in terms of utility value. Rents set on the basis of this utility value model are typically lower than what the rent would have been on a free market. For newly built rental housing, there is a partial exception: presumptive rents. A presumptive rent may be set higher than what would be allowed under the utility value method. The idea is that the property owner will thus be able to cover his costs for new production and get a reasonable return on investment. The aim is that this will lead to more rental apartments being built.

The presumptive rent is set after negotiations between the landlord and the local tenant organization. The rent set is then assumed (presumed) to be reasonable 15 years ahead. Unlike a rent negotiated directly with the tenant or determined solely by the landlord, the presumed rent may not, as a rule, be changed during that 15-year period. However, a change may still be permitted to the extent that it is reasonable in view of the general development of rents in the locality. However, according to two Court of Appeal rulings from the summer of 2022, the increase must not fully follow the development of utility value rents in the locality. Instead, the presumption rent may, as a starting point, only be increased by half of the development if it is no more than three percent and by three quarters to the extent that the increase exceeds three percent.

In the consultation document, the Government has now proposed that presumptive rents may be changed so that they fully correspond to the general rent development in the locality, as long as there are no special reasons for setting the rent at a different amount. Such special reasons may be that the rent has not been adjusted for several years and that an adjustment in line with the rent trend would result in too large an increase at once. Another example is that there are no collectively negotiated utility value rents in that particular locality or that the circumstances surrounding the development of rents in the locality are distinctive in some respect.

To make the model with presumed rents more flexible, the Government proposes that the rent should also be allowed to be changed on the basis of individual requests for additions and withdrawals from the tenant or if the landlord has had a significant interest in modernizing the property.

Furthermore, the government proposes new possibilities for resolving disputes about presumed rents, both for when the rents are to be set for the first time and for the ongoing adjustment of the rent during the fifteen-year period. The landlord and the tenant organization will be able to agree that the disputes will be heard by a special arbitrator appointed by the Rent Tribunal. The aim is to create more efficient negotiations.

Block renting - simpler, faster and more predictable model

Block renting means that the landlord rents out at least three residential apartments to a block tenant, who in turn may sublet the apartments. Block renting gives the landlord and the block tenant the right to agree on conditions that are not normally allowed in residential rental. Common examples include transferring more maintenance responsibilities to the block tenant, giving the block tenant a longer notice period and setting a rent that exceeds the utility value of the apartments. However, the rental conditions must never go beyond the mandatory rules for renting premises (where there is more freedom of contract than for renting housing).

In order for block rentals to be permitted today, the Rent Tribunal must approve the deviations agreed between the landlord and the block tenant in relation to the provisions of the Rent Act on residential rent. According to the proposal, the review will instead be made simpler and faster by the Rent Tribunal only reviewing whether block renting as such should be allowed, not each individual condition. The question of whether the conditions are unauthorized or unreasonable would then be examined in a later separate process, as is the case for rental rights in general.

Furthermore, the inquiry wants the conditions for block rentals to be expanded and made more predictable. The inquiry therefore proposes that the conditions should be written into the law. The specific types of acceptable purposes to be referred to are when the block tenant is to 1) rent to employees or other clearly defined group, for example for student housing or care homes, 2) rent to a legal entity in order for it to be able to offer housing to people who work for it, or 3) conduct so-called co-living.

A further proposal is that the landlord and the block tenant should be able to agree on indirect security of tenure in the same way as for renting premises. In this way, the parties can manage their contractual relationship as a rental agreement.

With the new model, it is proposed that the block tenant and the subtenant should be able to agree on an adapted rent that may deviate from the utility value rent. This will reduce the risk of a large discrepancy in the block lease (where the utility value rent does not apply) and in the sublease (where the utility value rent currently applies). The adjusted rent must be reasonable in the circumstances of the individual case.

In order to increase predictability, the report also proposes that block rentals should be exempt from the so-called bulge rule in the Land Code. In short, the "bulge rule" means that a subtenant should have the same rights against the landlord as the first tenant if there is a community of interest between the landlord and the first tenant and it can be assumed that the subletting is used to circumvent rules in favor of the subtenant. This rule could, according to the report, hamper block lettings.

While the committee has proposed a freer regulation, it also proposes stricter requirements to avoid abuse. Permission for block renting may therefore be refused if there are special reasons against it, for example, if the protection rules for residential tenants are expected to be circumvented in an undesirable way or if it can be assumed that there is some kind of abuse. The Rent Tribunal may also seek the opinion of organizations with relevant knowledge.

Mediation of rental properties - higher compensation for professionals

It is currently a criminal offense to request, enter into an agreement with or accept remuneration from a tenant for the brokerage of a residential apartment, with the exception of holiday homes. Another exception is when it is done professionally under the Real Estate Agents Act. Even in these cases, however, there is a ceiling of SEK 3,000 or SEK 1,000 depending on whether it is an apartment or a room that is rented out. Compensation may only be charged if the brokerage leads to the signing of a rental agreement.

The compensation levels were decided in 2003 and have not been adjusted for inflation since then. The proposal is now to retain a limit but to raise the level and link it to the price base amount so that it is adjusted to inflation. A reasonable level has been deemed to be one tenth of the price base amount for apartments and one twentieth for rooms. This corresponds to just under SEK 6,000 and SEK 3,000 respectively for the year 2025 and thus entails a doubling in relation to current levels.

Private rental and subletting of tenant-owned apartments

The inquiry has proposed a completely new Private Letting Act to replace the Act on Letting of Own Housing. The new act will regulate the entire tenancy relationship without the Land Code, Chapter 12 (the Rent Act) becoming applicable.

Furthermore, the report contains proposals to make it easier for tenant-owners to sublet their apartments.