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Settling in Sweden

Hyresvärd / bostadsförmedling / hyresnämnden

Finding somewhere to live

First-hand and second-hand contracts, the queue, the viewing, and the words of a lease.

Step 1, free to read

The two kinds of contract

A förstahandskontrakt is a lease directly with the owner or the housing company. It normally runs until further notice, the rent is negotiated collectively rather than set by the market, and the tenant has besittningsskydd — a legal right to keep the flat that survives the landlord simply wanting it back. An andrahandskontrakt is a sublet: you rent from somebody who is themselves the tenant or the owner. It is the market almost every newcomer starts in, it is usually for a fixed period, and the protection is much thinner.

  1. Step 2: A sublet needs permission — check it
  2. Step 3: The queue, and why you join it today
  3. Step 4: At the viewing
  4. Step 5: Reading the lease, and giving notice

Finish this path with Svenska Plus

  • förstahandskontrakt vs andrahandskontrakt: what you actually get with each
  • The queue system, and what kötid buys you
  • A viewing: what to ask, and the two questions that catch a scam
  • 13 phrases, from booking a viewing to giving notice
  • The lease vocabulary: uppsägningstid, besittningsskydd, kallhyra, 2 rok

13 Swedish phrases · 15 words off the real forms · 4 practice items

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