New mortgage rules 1 April 2026 — everything that changes and what it means

The biggest changes to the Swedish mortgage framework since 2018. Parliament (Riksdagen) voted the decision through on 4 March. Effective from 1 April 2026.

Rule	Before	After
Mortgage ceiling (bolantak) at purchase	85%	90%
Down payment (kontantinsats)	At least 15%	At least 10%
Top-up loan (tillaggslan)	Max 85%	Max 80%
Tightened amortisation requirement	+1% at debt-to-income ratio (skuldkvot) >4.5	Abolished
Inertia rule (revaluation)	Applied only to amortisation rate	Extended to also cover borrowing capacity

The short version: easier to get in, harder to expand.

The down payment drops — but borrowing is not free

It is easy to read “10% down payment” and think that is good news. It is, for those who have not been able to save up 15%. But it means a larger loan, and a larger loan costs more every month.

Maria has saved SEK 300,000. Under the old rules that was enough for a home at SEK 2,000,000. Now it is enough for SEK 3,000,000. The entry threshold is lower.

But anyone who can put down 15% should think carefully before settling for 10. The table below shows what the difference costs on a home priced at SEK 3,000,000:

	15% down	10% down	Difference
Down payment (kontantinsats)	SEK 450,000	SEK 300,000	-SEK 150,000
Loan	SEK 2,550,000	SEK 2,700,000	+SEK 150,000
Interest/month (2.65%)	SEK 5,631	SEK 5,963	+SEK 332
Amortisation/month (2%)	SEK 4,250	SEK 4,500	+SEK 250
Total per month	SEK 9,881	SEK 10,463	+SEK 582

SEK 582 more per month. With a static calculation that corresponds to approximately SEK 70,000 over ten years, but in practice the difference decreases gradually since both loans are amortised and the interest is calculated on a declining balance. The point remains: the lower down payment frees up capital here and now, but costs more every month. And with a higher loan-to-value ratio (belaningsgrad) comes often worse interest terms and a longer road to a lower amortisation class.

The 2.65% interest rate in the examples corresponds approximately to the average variable new-lending rate in February 2026. Your actual rate may differ.

Calculate backwards from what you can handle at the stress interest rate (kalkylranta), not from what you want to buy.

Down payment in kronor — at different price levels

This is how the down payment in kronor changes depending on the property price:

Property price	Down payment 15% (before)	Down payment 10% (after)	You save
SEK 2,000,000	SEK 300,000	SEK 200,000	SEK 100,000
SEK 3,000,000	SEK 450,000	SEK 300,000	SEK 150,000
SEK 4,000,000	SEK 600,000	SEK 400,000	SEK 200,000
SEK 5,000,000	SEK 750,000	SEK 500,000	SEK 250,000
SEK 7,000,000	SEK 1,050,000	SEK 700,000	SEK 350,000

Lower threshold, but the larger loan costs. Here is the extra monthly cost at 2.65% interest and 2% amortisation:

Property price	Extra loan (10% vs 15%)	Extra cost/month
SEK 2,000,000	+SEK 100,000	+SEK 388
SEK 3,000,000	+SEK 150,000	+SEK 581
SEK 4,000,000	+SEK 200,000	+SEK 775
SEK 5,000,000	+SEK 250,000	+SEK 969
SEK 7,000,000	+SEK 350,000	+SEK 1,356

In Stockholm, where the median apartment is around SEK 4–5 million, this means the down payment drops by SEK 200,000–250,000 but the monthly cost increases by SEK 775–969. In Gothenburg and Malmo, where typical prices are around SEK 2.5–3.5 million, the saving is SEK 125,000–175,000 in down payment against SEK 485–680 extra per month.

The amortisation requirement — relief for the highly leveraged

The basic rules for amortisation are unchanged. Above 70% loan-to-value ratio: 2% per year. 50–70%: 1% per year. Below 50%: no requirement.

What disappears is the tightened requirement — the extra 1% that applied when the debt-to-income ratio (skuldkvot) exceeded 4.5 times gross income. Johan earns SEK 600,000 per year and has SEK 3 million in loans with a loan-to-value ratio above 70%. Debt-to-income ratio: 5.0. Under the old rules: 3% amortisation (2% + 1% tightened), SEK 90,000 per year. From April: 2%, SEK 60,000. A saving of SEK 2,500 per month.

One thing not to miss: it is the date you sign the promissory note (skuldebrev) that determines which rules apply, not the date of possession. If you sign in March and take possession in May, the old rules apply.

Top-up loans and the inertia rule — the tightening nobody talks about

While the down payment and amortisation are eased, this is the section where the rules actually get tighter.

Top-up loans (tillaggslan) — loans that extend your existing mortgage using the property as collateral, typically for renovation — are restricted to a maximum of 80% of the property’s value (down from 85%). It sounds like a small difference, but in kronor:

Property value	Max top-up loan (85%, before)	Max top-up loan (80%, after)	Difference
SEK 3,000,000	SEK 2,550,000	SEK 2,400,000	-SEK 150,000
SEK 4,000,000	SEK 3,400,000	SEK 3,200,000	-SEK 200,000
SEK 5,000,000	SEK 4,250,000	SEK 4,000,000	-SEK 250,000

Note that this is total capacity — your existing mortgage uses up most of it. If you already have 80% leverage or higher, you have zero capacity for top-up loans under the new rules.

Important: “the property’s value” in the legal sense is not the current market value. It is the purchase price or the value established at the most recent approved revaluation. If your property has risen in price since purchase but you have not had a revaluation, the old value applies.

The inertia rule (troghetsregeln) is expanded. Before 1 April there was already a rule that revaluation of the property for the purpose of changing the amortisation rate could only be done once every five years. What is new is that the same five-year restriction now also applies to revaluation for the purpose of expanding borrowing capacity. Previously you could renovate the kitchen, request a new valuation and immediately borrow against the increased value. Now you must wait five years from the most recent revaluation.

There is an exception: if you have carried out renovation, extension or similar work that has materially changed the property’s value, the bank may approve a new revaluation earlier.

The effect: anyone planning to buy cheap, renovate and quickly extract capital should recalculate. The path from purchase to expanded leverage is longer.

What it means for you as a first-time buyer

The entry threshold drops. But the affordability calculation (KALP — kvar att leva pa) does not change. The banks’ stress interest rates are the same. The standardised living-cost estimates are the same. What happens is that you can be approved for a larger loan with the same savings, but only if your income actually supports it. That is the bank’s job to assess. It is your job to know whether you actually want it.

A complete mortgage calculator shows the full picture: interest, amortisation, fee and operating costs combined — and what happens if rates rise.

Checklist for 1 April

Are you signing the promissory note before 1 April? Then the old rules apply. Do not give up a down payment you already have — it gives better interest terms.
Are you waiting to buy? Do not just calculate on putting down 10%. Calculate what it costs per month compared with 15%. See the tables above.
Planning a renovation with a top-up loan? Check your loan-to-value ratio. At 80% or above you have no capacity at all under the new rules. Also keep in mind that “the property’s value” may be lower than the market value.
Do you have a high debt-to-income ratio (over 4.5)? You avoid the extra amortisation, but the bank still looks at the ratio in its credit assessment.
Call the bank. Ask what stress interest rate they use and ask them to run an affordability assessment with your actual numbers. Compare with your own calculation.

Test what the difference between 10% and 15% down payment actually means for monthly cost, affordability assessment and a 10-year projection. BoKalk is updated with the rule changes from 1 April.

Christoffer, founder BoKalk