The upside of the regulated rental market is that if you get a ‘first hand’ rental – i.e. one where your name is on the lease - the rents are not market regulated but strictly controlled and you could get a real bargain. The downside is that you may have a very long wait for a popular sized property in a popular area. A ‘very long’ wait can amount to ten years or more.

If you are able to spend more money than the average person can afford on housing, the wait will be a lot shorter.

Priority is also given to those with special needs for housing – as evidenced by statements from a doctor, social worker or similar. Having nowhere to live is not considered an adequate enough need.

To make the queueing more complex, there may also be more than one ‘company’ that manages the kommun’s property. These companies are also responsible for maintaining your property and should be your first point of contact if you have problems with the property after moving in.

Advice to anyone wanting a first-hand contract:

1. Find out what housing queues exist in your area
Register yourself for any queue you can, private or centrally run by the municipality.

It may cost to be included in the queue - not enormous amounts but introduced in recent years to reduce the number of people who put themselves or their children on it in the hope that they will acquire an apartment in an attractive area in the future.

Make sure you know if the method for granting leases is based on "first in best dressed" or some other method.

You also need to be active whilst in the queue - register your interest in specific apartments as they become available. A list willbe open for registration for a few days and once the lists closes those who have been in the queue the longest will get an opportunity to view the property.

2. Find out what private landlords exist in your area
Some will have a website with their own queue system. Ring, email and write letters to express your interest.

Once you have viewed the property you can express interest in taking over the lease and depending on how high in the queue you are you can say "yes". Saying yes however, gives you no guarantees. Once you have submitted all the required information, which will include verification of your earnings and possibly even bank accounts plus letters of recommendation, your application will be processed. If you meet all the requirements (including possible minimum income) you just might get to sign the paperwork giving you a lease with your name on it.

Official Queues for Rental Properties

Göteborg
Boplats Göteborg
Portal that administers most of the rental properties in Göteborg
JagVillHaBostad.Nu (I want somewhere to live now)
A more extensive list of each company administering rental properties in Göteborg

Helsingborg
No central queue
JagVillHaBostad.Nu (I want somewhere to live now)

Jönköping
JagVillHaBostad.Nu (I want somewhere to live now)
Have the most extensive list of companies in the area.

Linköping
No central queue
The Municipality's List of Landlords

Lund
No central queue for all apartments
Lund Municipality's Housing Company
is one of the largest property owners in Lund and have their own queue.
JagVillHaBostad.Nu
list a few other housing companies in the area.

Malmö
Boplats Syd
A newly opened queue for Malmö properties.

Stockholm
Stockholm Municipality's Apartment Queue
register to maximise your chances of getting a first hand rental agreement as quickly as possible.
JagVillHaBostad.Nu
list the housing companies in greater Stockholm.

Umeå
No central queue
JagVillHaBostad.Nu
list the local companies

Uppsala
Uppsalahem
The largest of the housing companies and have their own queue.

Visby
AB Gotlandshem
marknad@gotlandshem.se  
Visbyhem
private landlord info@visbyhem.se 

Nationwide Housing Companies & Search Engines

HSB - a membership based housing cooperative
Stena Fastigheter - apartments in Göteborg, Halmstad, Lomma, Malmö, Lund, Stockholm, & Uppsala
Vasakronan - apartments in Göteborg, Malmö, Stockholm and Uppsala
Wallenstam - apartments in Götebory, Helsingbory & Stockholm

Bovision Search engine for all rental property as well as property for sale.
Hyresrätten.se Search engine for rental properties in Göteborg, LInköping, Malmö, Stockholm & Uppsala

Student Housing

Sökstudentbostad.se lists information about student housing companies in Sweden.
Student & Bostad - search engine for student housing in Göteborg, Stockholm, Uppsala, Linköping, Luleå, Lund, Malmö, Umeå & Örebro.

JagVillHaBostad.Nu
Please note that this organisation does not have their own queue system but is a membership based organisation whose goal is to support those in need of housing.