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How Homes Are Renovated in Sweden: Landlord Cycles, Board Approval and Certified Wet Rooms

How Swedish home renovation really works: who decides in rentals and co-ops, the certificate behind every wet room, what a bathroom costs, and ideas to borrow.

Published · 3 min read

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ON THIS PAGE4 sections
  1. What you need to know
  2. Who decides, and what a bathroom costs
  3. What a homeowner elsewhere can borrow
  4. FAQ

In Sweden 58% of apartments in multi-family buildings are rentals, so the landlord usually decides when a bathroom is redone, often during the building's once-in-a-lifetime pipe replacement. Co-op owners need the board's written approval first; house owners mostly get on with it. What ties it together is paperwork: certified wet rooms, municipal notices for structural work, and a tax credit that pays only on labor.

What you need to know

  • The stock is aging. Of 5.29 million homes (end of 2025), 52% are in multi-family buildings; 46% of those flats were built 1951–1980 (Statistics Sweden). Average flat: 67 m² (about 720 sq ft).
  • Pipe replacement (stambyte) drives renovation. It typically happens once, 30 to 60 years into a building's life, and landlords often redo bathrooms and kitchens at the same time (Hyresgästföreningen).
  • Wet rooms are certified. Plumbing follows Säker Vatten industry rules, and waterproofing and tiling follow coordinated trade rules. Only an authorized firm can issue the certificate, and insurers generally write compliance into their terms. Since January 1, 2026 kitchens need active leak protection (a sensor tied to a shutoff valve or alarm), and the digital certificate is due within four weeks.
  • Interior work rarely needs a building permit, but the municipality must be notified (anmälan) when work significantly affects load-bearing structure, fire protection, ventilation, a flue, or water and sewer, and you wait for a start approval (Boverket). A non-load-bearing wall needs no notice.
  • Houses are wood-framed. About 90% of low-rise homes have a wooden frame (Swedish Wood), so a house renovation is close to an American stick-built one. The classic red exterior is Falu red, an iron-oxide pigment from the Falun copper mine.
Tall concrete apartment blocks with balconies rising above low buildings on a construction site, with a sign reading Fittja 2200 lägenheter
Fittja, Stockholm County, probably early 1970s. Blocks like these are now due for pipe and bathroom replacement. Photo: Pål-Nils Nilsson / Riksantikvarieämbetet / CC BY 2.5

Who decides, and what a bathroom costs

Rule or figure
RenterMay paint and wallpaper without asking; needs written permission to remove a wall, change the kitchen sink or cabinets, or connect a fan to building ventilation
LandlordMaintenance (painting, floors, sanding parquet) needs no tenant consent; upgrades that raise the standard need it, or the rent tribunal's permission, which usually sides with the landlord on pipe jobs
Co-op ownerApply to the board; normally no work before written consent; DIY electrical or gas installation is illegal
Bathroom, full renovation 2026140,000–280,000 SEK incl. VAT before ROT (about $14,000–28,000); 5 m² room 150,000–200,000 SEK
Add-onsMoving a drain 20,000–50,000 SEK; asbestos removal in a 1950–1980 bathroom 10,000–25,000 SEK
ROT tax credit30% of labor, up to 50,000 SEK per person per year, taken off the invoice; owned homes only, no materials or DIY

Sources: Hyresgästföreningen and Sveriges Domstolar (renters and landlords), Säker Vatten (co-ops), Hantverkskollen's price index (costs; a quote marketplace, so a ballpark), Skatteverket (ROT). Dollars at the ECB rate of 10.01 SEK on October 12, 2026. Hantverkskollen also advises a reserve of at least 15%, because rot found at demolition can add 15,000–60,000 SEK.

A tiled hotel bathroom in Borås, Sweden, with large wall tiles, a mirrored corner vanity, a glass shower and a chrome heated towel rail
A bathroom in Borås. In a Swedish wet room the waterproof layer sits behind every tile, and the work is documented. Photo: JIP / CC BY-SA 4.0

What a homeowner elsewhere can borrow

  1. Get the waterproofing documented. Ask which membrane system, how many coats, and for dated photos before tile goes down; keep them with your insurance papers. Size tile with the tile calculator.
  2. Ask for labor and materials as separate lines. Swedish invoices must split them for ROT; it makes any quotes comparable in the renovation budget calculator.
  3. Let wood flooring acclimate. Swedish Wood says boards for heated buildings are dried to about 8% moisture and shouldn't be laid until the indoor climate matches normal use. See the flooring calculator and what is flooring.
  4. Sand and repaint before replacing. Both sit on the landlord's routine maintenance list. Plan paint with the paint calculator and what is paint.
  5. Add a kitchen leak sensor with an automatic shutoff when the kitchen is opened up.
A small red timber cottage with white window frames, dark blue shutters and a tiled roof, standing in a green garden
A Falu red cottage in Lysekil Municipality: a wood-framed house with the classic iron-oxide red. Photo: W.carter / CC BY-SA 4.0

FAQ

Do Swedish renters renovate?

Lightly. They can paint and wallpaper freely, but moving walls or changing fixed fittings needs written permission. Big renovations are the landlord's, usually during pipe replacement.

How does the ROT credit work?

You get 30% off the labor cost, up to 50,000 SEK per person per year, as a reduction on the contractor's invoice. Materials, DIY labor and rented homes don't qualify.

Do I need a permit to renovate a Swedish apartment?

Usually not a building permit, but you must notify the municipality when load-bearing parts, fire protection, ventilation or plumbing change significantly, and a co-op board must approve first.

Sources

Estimates and rules of thumb in these guides are for planning. Always confirm product coverage, local codes and supplier figures before you buy.

Image credits

  1. Tall concrete apartment blocks with balconies rising above low buildings on a construction site, with a sign reading Fittja 2200 lägenheter. Photo: Pål-Nils Nilsson / Riksantikvarieämbetet, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5
  2. A tiled hotel bathroom in Borås, Sweden, with large wall tiles, a mirrored corner vanity, a glass shower and a chrome heated towel rail. Photo: JIP, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
  3. A small red timber cottage with white window frames, dark blue shutters and a tiled roof, standing in a green garden. Photo: W.carter, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photos are resized and converted to WebP for this site; no other changes. Each remains under its original licence.

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