The information here is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice. Always consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.
The word andrahandskontrakt describes a legal position, not a formality. It decides who can end the tenancy, and how fast. A reader who knows only that they hold "a contract" cannot tell whether they have any protection if the landlord, or the tenant who sublet the flat to them, wants them out. Sweden treats first-hand and second-hand rentals as separate legal statuses, and each one carries its own protection, its own rent formula, and its own permission requirement.
A reform that took effect on 1 July 2026 changed part of that picture, but not all of it. This guide sets out which contract you are holding, what security and rent rules attach to it, and exactly what changed on that date, and what stayed the same. For the wider order housing unfolds in while you search for either type of contract, see the Housing section.
Who you are actually renting from
A förstahandskontrakt places you in a direct legal relationship with the property owner. That owner might be a private landlord, a municipal housing company, or, for a bostadsrätt, the bostadsrättsförening itself. Per Hyresgästföreningen, an andrahandskontrakt places you one step removed. Your landlord in practice is not the property owner, but the person who already holds a förstahandskontrakt, or who owns the bostadsrätt and lets it out temporarily. That distinction decides who you negotiate with, who can end the tenancy, and who answers to the property owner or association if something goes wrong.
A second, independent distinction sits underneath the first-hand and second-hand split: whether the underlying property is a hyresrätt (a rental flat) or a bostadsrätt or villa (an owned home). A sublet can involve either property type. That choice matters beyond the label. It decides which rent rule and which permission process apply to your specific sublet, covered separately later in this guide.
The security gap: besittningsskydd
A first-hand tenant holds near-indefinite besittningsskydd, statutory protection against termination, from the day the tenancy begins. A second-hand tenant holds almost none of that same protection for the first two years.
Besittningsskydd is the statutory barrier that stops a landlord from ending a first-hand tenancy without a legally recognized reason. It does not expire, and it does not depend on how long the tenant has already lived there. A second-hand tenant does not carry that protection from day one. Per Hyresgästföreningen, a second-hand tenant gains besittningsskydd only after two years of continuous subletting, and even then it applies solely against the first-hand tenant. It never applies against the property owner.
Where a sublet is expected to run past two years, the first-hand tenant and the second-hand tenant can agree in writing to waive besittningsskydd in advance. Per Hyresgästföreningen, that waiver holds for up to four years from the second-hand tenant's move-in date. After that period, the tenant's underlying protection resumes if the sublet continues. A second-hand tenant relying on the two-year threshold should confirm whether such a waiver already exists in their own contract, rather than assume the protection applies automatically.
Förstahandskontrakt
Andrahandskontrakt
Besittningsskydd
Near-indefinite, from day one
Only after 2 years, and only against the first-hand tenant
Rent rule
Set at bruksvärde (use-value)
Hyresrätt: capped at the first-hand tenant's own rent, +15% if furnished. Bostadsrätt/villa: comparable-market test from 1 July 2026
Permission needed
None: you hold the lease directly
Yes, in writing, from the landlord or the bostadsrättsförening, before the sublet starts
Who you answer to
The property owner or brf, directly
The first-hand tenant, not the owner directly
What rent is legal: hyresrätt sublet
For an unfurnished hyresrätt sublet, rent cannot legally exceed what the first-hand tenant themselves pays the landlord.
That ceiling holds regardless of what a subtenant might otherwise be willing to pay. Per Hyresgästföreningen, letting the flat furnished allows a markup of up to 15 percent above the first-hand tenant's own rent, and no more. Utilities and services included in the sublet, such as electricity, water, or broadband, may be charged to the subtenant at their actual cost only, not with an added margin.
A subtenant who has been overcharged can claim the difference back through Hyresnämnden. Per Hyresgästföreningen, that claim reaches up to two years back on agreements signed from 1 October 2019 onward, and one year back on older agreements. Filing quickly matters, since waiting well past moving out narrows the practical window for making the claim. For the wider budget picture beyond the base rent itself, see what a month of rent actually costs.
What rent is legal: bostadsrätt or villa sublet, before and after 1 July 2026
A bostadsrätt or villa sublet runs on a different rent formula from a hyresrätt sublet, and that formula changed on 1 July 2026.
For an agreement made before that date, the Act on Letting One's Own Dwelling, Lag (2012:978), let the owner charge for operating costs plus a capital-cost return tied to the property's market value. Per Hyresgästföreningen, the law's preparatory materials pointed to a guideline of roughly a couple of percentage points above the Riksbank's reference rate for that capital-cost component, without setting one fixed statutory figure.
For an agreement made from 1 July 2026 onward, the new Privatuthyrningslagen (2026:772) replaces that cost-based formula with a comparison test. Rent must not be substantially higher, in the law's own wording "väsentligt högre än den hyra som i allmänhet tas ut," than what is generally charged for similar dwellings let under the same law. Riksdagen passed proposition 2025/26:187, "En mer flexibel hyresmarknad," on 20 May 2026. The new law took effect 1 July 2026, repealing the 2012:978 Act for agreements made from that date onward, per Riksdagen. This new rule applies only where the owner does not regularly let out more than two dwellings beyond their own home. For everything else the reform touched, see the rules that changed on 1 July 2026.
The date printed on the sublet agreement, not the date a dispute happens to reach Hyresnämnden, decides which test applies. A sublet agreed in June 2026 stays under the 2012:978 cost test for its full term, unless a new agreement is signed after the changeover date. Only a contract dated 1 July 2026 or later falls under the new comparable-market rule.
Getting permission for a sublet
A hyresrätt sublet needs the landlord's written permission on grounds the law recognizes. A bostadsrätt or villa sublet needs the bostadsrättsförening's or owner's approval instead.
Per 12 kap. 40 § jordabalken, cited via Lawline alongside Hyresgästföreningen's plain-language guidance, a landlord can refuse a hyresrätt sublet only if they lack a justified reason. The law recognizes grounds such as age, illness, temporary work or studies elsewhere, a longer stay abroad, special family circumstances, or comparable conditions. Hyresgästföreningen's own guidance lists the same grounds in everyday language: studies or temporary work at another location, an extended stay abroad, trial cohabitation with a partner, or hospital care. A typical permit covers six to twelve months at a time, per Hyresgästföreningen. Permission attaches to the named subtenant, so a change of subtenant needs a fresh permit rather than an informal extension.
For a bostadsrätt or villa sublet, the association or owner decides whether to approve the arrangement. From 1 July 2026, the association's ability to hold a tenant's rental history against a new request narrowed. Per Riksdagen's proposition text, a prior sublet counts against a new approval only if it happened "i betydande omfattning," to a significant extent. The law sets no fixed year-count for what qualifies. Expect Hyresnämnden to build that threshold case by case as disputes reach it, rather than from a bright-line figure written into the statute itself.
What happens without permission
Subletting without written permission puts the arrangement, and the first-hand tenant's own tenancy, at risk from the start.
Per Hyresgästföreningen, unauthorized subletting on a contract from 1 October 2019 onward can put the first-hand tenant's own tenancy at risk of forfeiture. The landlord has up to six months from discovering the unauthorized sublet to act on it. A second-hand tenant who moves in without confirming that written permission exists is relying entirely on the first-hand tenant's goodwill, not on a right of their own that Hyresnämnden can enforce.
Confirm the written permission exists before moving in, and keep a copy of it alongside the sublet contract itself. If a landlord refuses permission without a recognized ground, or a subtenant suspects the rent charged exceeds the legal ceiling, disputing a sublet rent through Hyresnämnden is the formal next step, whatever the underlying property type. For a sense of the timeline these questions tend to surface on, see what the first months in Sweden are like once housing is settled.
Common questions about förstahandskontrakt and andrahandskontrakt
Does a second-hand tenant ever get the same rights as a first-hand tenant?
Only against the first-hand tenant, and only after two years of continuous subletting. Per Hyresgästföreningen, that protection never extends to the property owner, so a second-hand tenant cannot rely on it to prevent the owner from ending the underlying first-hand tenancy.
Does the 1 July 2026 reform change hyresrätt-to-hyresrätt subletting rent rules?
No. The reform, the Privatuthyrningslagen (2026:772), replaces the rent formula for bostadsrätt and villa sublets only. Hyresrätt-to-hyresrätt subletting stays under the existing jordabalken bruksvärde-linked rent test, per Hyresgästföreningen.
What happens if a bostadsrätt sublet rent was set under the old formula after 1 July 2026?
Agreements made before 1 July 2026 continue under the 2012:978 cost test for their full term. Only agreements dated 1 July 2026 or later use the new Privatuthyrningslagen (2026:772) comparable-market test, per Hyresgästföreningen.
Second-Hand Tenants Gain No Besittningsskydd Until Two Years Have Passed
Which contract you hold decides more than where you sleep. A förstahandskontrakt carries near-indefinite besittningsskydd from day one; an andrahandskontrakt carries almost none of it until two years have passed, and even then only against the first-hand tenant, never the landlord. The rent rule that applies depends on property type as much as contract type: a hyresrätt sublet stays capped at the first-hand tenant's own rent plus a modest furnished markup, while a bostadsrätt or villa sublet now runs on the comparable-market test the Privatuthyrningslagen (2026:772) introduced, if the agreement was signed on or after 1 July 2026.
Confirm the property type, the contract date, and the written permission before assuming either set of rules applies to your situation. For the wider order housing search follows, return to the Housing section.
