New Swedish mortgage rules 2026: 90 percent loan-to-value cap and 10 percent deposit

If you worry that you will never save up enough to buy a home, the threshold just got lower. From 1 April 2026 a deposit of 10 percent of the home value is enough, not 15 percent as before. This deposit is called the kontantinsats, the cash you put in yourself. The mortgage cap, the bolånetak, rose from 85 to 90 percent, so you can borrow a larger share of the price. At the same time the stricter amortisation rule was removed, which can lower the monthly cost if you borrow a lot relative to your income. Here we go through what actually changed and what it means for your wallet.

What changed on 1 April 2026

The new rules now sit in a single law, lag (2026:226) om begränsning av bostadskrediter (the act on limiting housing credit), which came into force on 1 April 2026. Before, the equivalent rules lived in the financial regulator’s regulations. Now they are written in statute instead, and the old regulations on amortisation and loan-to-value were withdrawn.

Rule	Before 1 April 2026	From 1 April 2026
Loan-to-value cap at purchase (bolånetak)	85 percent	90 percent
Deposit (kontantinsats)	15 percent	10 percent
Additional borrowing (tilläggslån)	85 percent	80 percent
Ordinary amortisation rule	Retained	Retained
Stricter amortisation rule (4.5x income)	In place	Removed

10 percent deposit instead of 15

This is the biggest change if you are saving towards a first home. When the loan-to-value cap rose to 90 percent, the deposit requirement fell from 15 to 10 percent of the home value. In practice you need roughly a third less cash to get into the market.

It also means the same savings now stretch to a more expensive home, because a smaller share has to come out of your own pocket.

Worked example: a home for 4 million

Say you are looking at a bostadsrätt (a co-op apartment, where you own a share in the housing association rather than the flat itself) priced at 4 000 000 kr.

• Before: a 15 percent deposit was 600 000 kr, and you could borrow 3 400 000 kr.
• Now: a 10 percent deposit is 400 000 kr, and you can borrow 3 600 000 kr.

The difference is 200 000 kr less deposit for exactly the same home. If you have already saved 600 000 kr, that money could instead reach a home around 6 million, if the rest of your finances allow it.

Amortisation: the ordinary rule stays, the stricter one is gone

It is easy to mix up the two amortisation rules. One stays, the other is removed.

The ordinary amortisation rule (amorteringskrav) was kept unchanged:

• At least 2 percent of the loan a year if your loan-to-value (belåningsgrad) is above 70 percent.
• At least 1 percent a year if your loan-to-value is between 50 and 70 percent.
• Below 50 percent there is no statutory requirement.

The stricter amortisation rule (skärpt amorteringskrav) was removed. It used to add an extra 1 percent of amortisation a year for households whose total mortgage exceeded 4.5 times gross annual income. So if you borrow a lot relative to your income, that extra cost disappears. It lowers the monthly cost and can also improve the bank’s left-to-live-on calculation, which sometimes means you are granted a slightly larger loan.

Additional borrowing has a lower cap: 80 percent

One thing differs from the purchase situation. Additional borrowing (tilläggslån), meaning loans you take later than when the home was bought, for example for a renovation, can reach a loan-to-value of at most 80 percent.

The cap at the purchase itself is 90 percent, but to borrow against value you have built up in the home afterwards the limit is 80 percent. If you want to fund a new kitchen or bathroom with a mortgage, that is the line that governs how much you can draw.

What the rules are for

The changes were decided by the Riksdag with the stated aim of lowering the thresholds to owning a home, especially for young people and growing families. It is worth remembering that a higher loan cap does not automatically mean you should borrow the maximum. The bank still does its own left-to-live-on calculation, and a larger loan means higher interest and amortisation every month.

Think of the deposit as the threshold to get in, and the monthly cost as what you actually live with. The new rules make it easier to get in. How much you take on is still your choice.