How to get a mortgage in Sweden, step by step

Decide what kind of home you are buying

The type of home decides what you actually buy, who has to approve you and what it costs on top of the price.

• Tenant-owned apartment (bostadsrätt): you buy a membership in a housing association (bostadsrättsförening) and the right to use one apartment. The association owns the building, you pay it a monthly fee (avgift), and its board has to approve you as a member. There is no stamp duty.
• House (a villa or terraced house you own as property): you own the property itself. On top of the price you pay stamp duty: 1,5 % of the price for the title deed (lagfart), and 2 % of any new mortgage deeds (pantbrev) the bank needs as security, each plus a handling fee. Mortgage deeds that already exist on the house are reused, so you only pay for the part they don’t cover. No association has to approve you.
• New-build (nyproduktion): you sign with the developer or the association long before you move in, often starting with a preliminary agreement (förhandsavtal). A loan promise can expire before the access day, so ask the bank when it will assess you again.

The monthly fee is a cost of its own

With a bostadsrätt you pay the association a monthly fee (avgift) for as long as you own the apartment, on top of the interest and amortization on your own loan. It is often several thousand kronor a month: the average is around 780 kr per square metre a year, about 4 600 kr a month for 70 square metres, and a family apartment in Stockholm can cost 6 000 kr a month or more.

• What it pays for: the association’s own loans, the building’s upkeep and insurance, and usually heating and water. What is included differs, so check the listing.
• It can rise: the association sets the fee, and raises it when its costs or interest rates go up. The annual report shows its debts and any planned increases.
• No tax reduction: unlike the interest on your own loan, the fee gives you nothing back on your tax.
• It lowers what you can borrow: the bank counts the fee in your monthly budget.
• Compare the total, not the price: a cheaper apartment with a high fee can cost more per month than a dearer one with a low fee. Add up interest, amortization and fee before you compare two homes.

A house has no fee, but you pay its running costs yourself – heating, water, insurance and upkeep – and the bank counts those instead. Stamp duty is paid on top of the down payment, so budget for it separately.

Work out how much you can borrow

Three limits decide the size of the loan:

• The mortgage cap (bolånetak): the loan can be at most 90 % of the home’s value, so you need at least 10 % as a down payment (kontantinsats) from your own money. This has applied since 1 April 2026.
• Your income: banks usually lend up to about 5,5 times the household’s yearly income before tax. That is bank practice, not law, and it differs between banks.
• The bank’s budget test: the bank checks that you could still cover your living costs and the monthly fee if the rate rose to its stress rate, often 6–7 %.

You also have to amortize: 2 % of the loan a year while it is more than 70 % of the home’s value, and 1 % a year while it is more than 50 %.

The borrowing capacity calculator estimates your limit from your salary and down payment, and the mortgage calculator shows what a loan costs per month. The estimate counts 4 000 kr a month for the fee or running costs; with a higher fee, a bank lends less.

If you are new to Sweden: no law stops a foreign citizen from buying a home or getting a mortgage, but each bank sets its own requirements. Most want you to have a Swedish personal identity number (personnummer), an income in Swedish kronor and stable employment, and some are stricter if you don’t have a permanent residence permit. If one bank says no, ask another.

Get a loan promise (lånelöfte)

A loan promise is the bank’s written statement of how much it is prepared to lend you. You apply online, it is free, and you can ask several banks. The bank asks about your income, employment, debts and household, and takes a credit report on you.

• It states the largest loan the bank would give you. Add your down payment and you have your ceiling.
• It is valid for a limited time, usually three to six months; the date is on the document.
• It is not binding, for you or for the bank. It is a preliminary assessment, and the bank makes its final decision when you have a specific home.
• It only holds while what you told the bank is still true. Tell the bank if your job, income or debts change.

Find a home and bid

The loan promise is your proof that you can pay. Estate agents (mäklare) normally ask to see it, or to know which bank issued it, before they take your bid.

Homes are usually sold through open bidding (budgivning) after a viewing (visning). A bid is not legally binding – neither buyer nor seller is bound until both have signed the contract – but the agent expects you to stand by yours.

Tell your bank which home it is before the bidding gets serious. The bank assesses the home as well as you – for an apartment, the association’s finances too – and a loan promise does not guarantee a loan for every home.

Read the documents

The agent gives you the facts about the apartment and its association. Read them before you bid, not after.

• The listing description (objektsbeskrivning): the apartment’s size, monthly fee, share of the association and what is included, such as storage or parking.
• The association’s annual report (årsredovisning): its debts, planned fee increases and upcoming renovations. An association with large loans is more sensitive to interest rates, and its higher costs end up in your monthly fee.
• The statutes (stadgar): what you may change in the apartment, and the rules for subletting.
• The economic plan (ekonomisk plan): for new-builds, the association’s budget before it has any history.

For a house, order an inspection (besiktning) instead: the buyer has a far-reaching duty to examine the property (undersökningsplikt), and you cannot later claim for faults you should have found.

Sign the contract and pay the deposit

When your bid is accepted, buyer and seller sign a transfer agreement (överlåtelseavtal) for an apartment, or a purchase contract (köpekontrakt) for a house. The purchase is binding once both have signed, so get your bank’s go-ahead for this particular home first – if the loan falls through after you sign, you are still bound.

You then pay a deposit (handpenning), normally 10 % of the price, by the date in the contract – often within about a week. It counts towards your down payment. The agent holds it in a client account, normally until the association has accepted you as a member, and you get it back if you are refused.

Get approved by the housing association

Buying a bostadsrätt is conditional on the association’s board accepting you as a member. The agent usually sends in the application. The board looks at whether you can pay the monthly fee, and may ask about your employment and income or take a credit report.

The board needs a valid reason to refuse, such as clearly insufficient finances. If it refuses, the purchase is cancelled, and you can appeal the decision to the rent tribunal (hyresnämnden). This step does not exist when you buy a house.

Finalise the mortgage

Send the signed contract to your bank. It makes its final credit decision and prepares the loan documents, which you normally sign with BankID. The apartment is pledged to the bank as security; for a house, the security is the mortgage deeds.

This is when you agree what the loan will cost:

• Rate and discount: your rate is the bank’s list rate (listränta) minus a discount you negotiate. Ask how long the discount lasts, and compare with an offer from another bank – banks publish the average rates their customers actually pay (snitträntor). The mortgage calculator shows what a bigger discount saves.
• Fixed period (bindningstid): a floating three-month rate, or a rate fixed for one to ten years. You can split the loan into parts with different periods.
• The down payment: the bank wants to see that you have it and where it comes from. Many banks ask you to move it to an account with them before the access day, because they then pay the seller in one transaction. Ask yours what it requires and by when.

You get part of the interest back as a tax reduction: 30 % of your interest costs up to 100 000 kr a year, and 21 % of anything above. The tax refund calculator works it out.

Access day: payment and keys

On the access day (tillträdesdag) you, the seller and the agent meet, often at the agent’s office or at the bank. The agent has prepared a settlement statement (likvidavräkning) showing who is paid what.

• Your bank pays out the mortgage and the rest of your down payment – the price minus the deposit you have already paid.
• The seller’s own loans on the home are repaid from that money, and the seller gets the rest.
• The monthly fee is split between you and the seller if the day falls mid-month.
• When the payment is confirmed you get the keys, and the home is yours.

Have home insurance in place from this day. For a house, the title deed (lagfart) has to be applied for within three months; the bank usually does it for you.