Sweden proposes a 10% home down payment from 1 April 2026
The cap would rise to 90% and the stricter amortization rule would go. On a SEK 3 million home, the down payment drops from SEK 450,000 to SEK 300,000.
Sweden's government wants a 10% down payment ("kontantinsats") to be enough when you buy a home. Today, 5 February 2026, it sent a bill to the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament. The changes would take effect on 1 April 2026.
What the government proposes
- The loan-to-value cap ("bolånetak") rises from 85% to 90% of the home's market value. This applies when you buy a new home.
- The stricter amortization rule ("skärpt amorteringskrav") goes. Today you pay off an extra 1% a year if your mortgages are more than 4.5 times your gross annual income. In total that can reach 3% a year.
- Top-up loans are capped. If you borrow more against a home you already own, for example for a renovation, the loan may be at most 80% of the value.
- The five-year revaluation rule is widened. Today you may revalue your home only once every five years to lower your amortization. The same limit would apply when you revalue to borrow more.
The rules would move from the Financial Supervisory Authority's regulations into a new law. The bill also hands the countercyclical capital buffer from the Financial Supervisory Authority to the Riksbank.
How much less you need to save
Take a SEK 3 million flat. With today's 85% cap you need SEK 450,000 as a down payment. At 90%, SEK 300,000 is enough. The bank still runs its own check on whether you can afford the loan.
The stricter rule hits families with large loans hardest. Take a household earning SEK 600,000 a year with a SEK 3,400,000 loan on a SEK 4 million home. The loan is more than 4.5 times income.
Today amortization is 3%, or SEK 102,000 a year. Without the stricter rule it is 2%, or SEK 68,000.
"The stricter amortization requirement has hit at a stage in life when many want to start a family and need the money for other things," says financial markets minister Niklas Wykman.
What happens next
Nothing is decided yet. The Riksdag votes on the bill in spring 2026. Until then the 85% cap and the stricter amortization rule still apply. The mortgage basics chapter of the mortgage crash course explains how today's amortization rules work.
Sources
- Government of Sweden: press release on new mortgage rules, 5 February 2026 (Swedish)
- Riksdag: Government bill 2025/26:119 (Swedish)
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