A tenant-owner association (bostadsrättsförening or brf) is an economic association whose purpose is to grant the use of apartments in the association’s building or buildings to tenant-owners without any time limit. The association’s building or buildings must contain at least three apartments.

In a tenant-owner association, you pay a fixed down payment to the association only when the use of the apartment is granted for the very first time. As a tenant-owner, you have no right to the return of this down payment from the association when you cease to be a member. Instead, you repay the financial value of the tenant owner apartment through your sale of the tenant-owner right to the apartment. You have no personal liability and you risk only your down payment.

Members

A tenant-owner association must have at least three members consisting of private persons or legal persons (an enterprise or other organisation).

Board of Directors and accountant

The members hold a statutory meeting of the association where you adopt the Articles of Association and choose a Board of Directors. The association must have at least one auditor, and the auditor may not be:

• a board member
• deputy board member
• married to, cohabiting with, or closely related to any member of the board.

For very large tenant-owner associations, the auditor must be an authorised public accountant and the name of the auditor must be notified to the Swedish Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket).

Read more about when a tenant-owner association is required to have an authorised public accountant on the Economic association page

Annual report

A tenant-owner association is required by law to keep accounts and each year must prepare an annual report and an auditor’s report. The annual report is public. Larger tenant-owner associations must submit their annual reports to the Swedish Companies Registration Office.

Find out if your tenant owner association needs to submit an annual report in the Swedish Companies Registration Office’s Annual Report Guide (in Swedish)

Financial plan

Each tenant-owner association must have its own financial plan. The purpose of this plan is first and foremost to assist future tenant-owners in deciding whether they want to become members of the association or not. But suppliers, banks and other lenders may also have an interest in the plan. The plan must be registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office before tenant-owner rights can be granted.

Change in the Board

To notify a change in the board of a tenant-owner association, log in using your e-identification. If you have previously been a member of the Board, select "My overview" and the tenant-owner association in question, and then the Swedish Companies Registration Office’s e-service. If you are new to the Board of Directors, first select “Search for enterprise or association” and then the association for which you want to register a change. When you have selected the association, select the Swedish Companies Registration Office’s e-service. It costs SEK 600 to register a change via the e-service.

Register change to the Board of Directors via a form

If you are not able to use the e-service, you can notify a change to the Board of Directors via a paper form. It costs SEK 900 to notify this change via a paper form.

Use the Swedish Companies Registration Office’s form Change notification (Form no. 914) (in Swedish)

More about tenant owner associations

Register a tenant-owner association

You must have the Articles of Association and the minutes of the statutory meeting of the association ready before you begin the registration.

Register a tenant-owner association