First-Hand Rental Contract Without a Queue in Stockholm – How It Works
You can get a first-hand rental contract without a queue in Stockholm, but only outside the municipal housing queue. Private landlords who let apartments directly choose their own tenants, and some target specific professions. Stockholm South in Farsta strand is one of them: 130 rental apartments for essential workers, available for quick move-in.
Why the queue isn't the whole picture
Almost everyone searching for housing in Stockholm starts in the same place: bostad.stockholm.se. Det är logiskt, för Bostadsförmedlingen är störst. Men den förmedlar bara en del av stadens hyresrätter, och den delen fördelas nästan uteslutande efter kötid.
The numbers make the problem concrete. As of 31 December 2025, 894,592 people were registered with Bostadsförmedlingen, which allocated 20,861 homes during the year at an average queue time of 9.0 years for ordinary rental apartments.* For apartments within the City of Stockholm itself, the average stood at 12.4 years. Even in a record year, roughly one in forty registered applicants received a home.
If you're moving to Stockholm for a job that starts in six weeks, that system is useless to you. Queue time can't be bought, inherited or accelerated. Register today and you stand last in line no matter what you do for a living.
This is where a second housing market comes in, one that far fewer people know how to navigate: private property owners who handle letting themselves. They aren't required to apply queue time at all.
What "without a queue" actually means
The phrase gets used loosely in listings, so it's worth separating three different things.
Without a queue means the landlord allocates apartments according to their own criteria rather than registered queue time. Usually that means income, employment status, references and payment history. You can still be turned down, but never because someone else has been waiting longer than you.
Without waiting time is sometimes used about apartments that are allocated through Bostadsförmedlingen but where the queue happens to be short. During 2025, 1,725 rental apartments went to people with queue times of between zero and two years.* That's a genuine possibility, but it still requires registration and good timing.
Priority status (förtur) is something else entirely: a municipal exception granted on medical or social grounds, usually after a formal assessment. Having an important job doesn't qualify you, however essential the work is.
When we say Stockholm South offers first-hand contracts without a queue, we mean the first definition. We let apartments directly and assess each applicant ourselves.
Four routes to a contract without waiting time
Private landlords letting directly
Roughly half of Stockholm's rental apartments are allocated outside the municipal queue. Heimstaden, Wallenstam, Stena Fastigheter and a long tail of smaller property owners run either their own queues or none at all. The smaller ones are hardest to find, since they rarely appear in the big listing portals, which is also exactly why your chances are better there.
Most set an income requirement relative to the rent. The industry rule of thumb is that rent shouldn't exceed a third of gross income, sometimes stricter.
New construction
New buildings have no sitting tenant blocking the apartment, and every unit becomes available at once. That pushes queue times down sharply. In Farsta, average queue time in 2025 was 13.2 years for existing apartments but only 4.4 years for newly built ones.* The same pattern holds across the outer districts.
The trade-off is the rent level. Newly built rental apartments carry what's called presumtionshyra, meaning the rent is set through negotiation for the first fifteen years rather than being tested against the utility-value system. You wait less and pay more.
The surrounding municipalities
In Södertälje, Sigtuna, Salem, Österåker, Tyresö, Upplands-Bro and Sollentuna, among others, average queue time was under five years in 2025.* For anyone able to commute, that's a shortcut. The catch is that queue time doesn't transfer between different landlords' queues, so you start from zero in each new municipality.
Projects with a defined target group
The least known route. A private landlord may direct letting toward a particular profession, since occupation isn't one of the protected grounds under the Swedish Discrimination Act. Student housing and senior living work on the same principle, using studies and age as the criterion instead.
That's the model Stockholm South uses.
Stockholm South: 130 apartments for essential workers
At Edsvallabacken 1 and Fryksdalsbacken 3 in Farsta strand there are 130 rental apartments let directly to people in essential professions. Doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters and military personnel in permanent employment make up the core group, but the boundaries are deliberately flexible. An assistant nurse in an emergency department and a paramedic serve the same function in society as a licensed physician, and are treated accordingly.
The thinking behind it fits in a sentence: you keep the city running, now we want to help you live in it.
Available apartments and rents
Around forty apartments are available right now. Floor areas run from 20 to 47 square metres, with rents from SEK 6,750 to SEK 11,750 per month.
Just under half of the available units are corporate apartments, let only to legal entities. That option exists because many people in the target group run their own companies: consultant physicians, agency nurses and specialists who invoice through a limited company. For them, a contract in a personal name is often the wrong instrument, and the VAT is deductible within the business.
New apartments become available on a rolling basis. What's listed on the website is a subset of what actually exists, since not everything gets published before it's let. Ask during a viewing and you'll see the full list.
From enquiry to keys
The process works like this:
- Contact Stockholm South to register your interest and book a viewing. You are welcome to visit even if you haven't decided on a specific apartment yet.
- On-site, we show you what is available, including units that have not yet been advertised.
- Once you have expressed interest, we evaluate your application based on employment, income, and payment history.
- Contract signing and move-in. For many apartments, this takes weeks rather than months.
No queue time is counted anywhere in that chain. What decides the outcome is whether you belong to the target group and meet the financial requirements.
Why we can offer contracts immediately
The question comes up at nearly every viewing, and it's a fair one. When the rest of the city is waiting nine years, "move in next month" sounds like it must have a catch.
The explanation is that Stockholm South isn't connected to the municipal housing queue. The property is managed in-house, letting is handled internally, and selection is made against a defined target group rather than against a queue system. We don't allocate by queue time because we never collected any.
The narrow target group also keeps the number of applicants per apartment manageable. A typical newly built two-room apartment in Farsta can attract hundreds of enquiries within a day. Here there are fewer applicants per unit, which is the entire point of the model.
Farsta strand: the location
Farsta strand sits at the southern end of the green metro line, about 20 minutes from T-Centralen. Commuter trains also stop here, giving direct connections south toward Handen and Västerhaninge and north through the city centre toward Solna.
For anyone working in healthcare, travel times are what matter. Södersjukhuset is just under 20 minutes away; Karolinska in Huddinge takes roughly half an hour by commuter train and bus. Farsta centrum is a couple of stops away with a library, a health centre, gyms and one of southern Stockholm's larger retail selections.
The area is residentially quiet in a way that suits shift work. Night shifts are easier when the traffic outside your window cooperates.
What to check before you sign
The housing shortage has created a grey zone where some offers don't survive scrutiny. A few things worth verifying regardless of who you're renting from:
Never pay for the contract itself. Accepting payment in exchange for transferring a rental contract is a criminal offence under Chapter 12, Section 65 of the Swedish Land Code, with imprisonment in the sentencing range. A landlord may charge a deposit and the first month's rent, but not a fee for granting you the contract.
Confirm that it's a genuine first-hand contract. Ask who owns the property and check the land register if you're unsure. A sublet presented as a first-hand contract is one of the most common frauds.
Read the termination terms. Three months' notice is standard for a Swedish rental apartment. Shorter terms exist in certain arrangements, and you should know about it before you move in.
View the apartment in person. Rental fraud almost always depends on you paying without having been on site. We always show apartments physically, and any serious landlord should do the same.
This is general information, not legal advice. For disputes or uncertainty about a contract, Hyresgästföreningen (the Swedish Union of Tenants) is a good first point of contact.
Our recommendation
Stay in Bostadsförmedlingen's queue. It costs a couple of hundred kronor a year and is worth holding onto long-term, whatever you're living in now.
But don't build your entire housing plan on it. Nine years is the average, and averages help nobody who needs an address by autumn. Search in parallel with private landlords, contact property owners directly in the areas you'd consider, and keep an eye on new construction in the outer districts.
If you work in healthcare, policing, rescue services or defence, you also have a route others don't. Book a viewing in Farsta strand and we'll show you what's available.
* Read more at bostad.stockholm.se/statistik
** Jordabalken 12 kap - läs mer på riksdagen.se
*** Learn more about Hyresgästföreningen here
Available apartments
Here you will find our available apartments in Farsta strand for those working in essential public services. We continuously add new listings as they become available, but there are often more apartments available than we have had time to publish. The rent is shown including VAT.
Available corporate apartments
Here you will find our corporate apartments, which are units available for rent exclusively by companies/legal entities. The rent is shown excluding VAT.
Answers to frequently asked questions
Here we answer your questions about Stockholm South and our apartments
Stockholm South is open to those working as doctors, police officers, firefighters, nurses, or military officers with permanent employment. When registering, you select your professional category and confirm that you meet the requirements.
Browse our available apartments and click on the one you’re interested in. There you’ll find all the information about the apartment and can submit an expression of interest directly. If you meet our requirements, you’ll be invited to a viewing. Move-in can be as soon as within one month.
To register your interest, it’s sufficient to confirm your profession and employment type during registration. We reserve the right to request documentation prior to signing a contract.
The building is located on Fryksdalsbacken in Farsta strand in southern Stockholm. Metro line 18 takes you from Farsta strand to T-Centralen in approximately 20 minutes, and buses 828, 830, and 831 stop right outside the building. If you’re driving, the area is a few minutes from Nynäsvägen (road 73), and parking is available directly adjacent to the building.
Yes, but not through Bostadsförmedlingen. Private landlords letting directly set their own selection criteria and aren't required to apply queue time. Stockholm South in Farsta strand is one example, with around forty apartments available now.
Doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters and military personnel form the core. Assessment is individual and the categories are flexible, so other roles within healthcare, rescue services and emergency response may also qualify. Permanent employment carries significant weight.
Between SEK 6,750 and SEK 11,750 per month for residential apartments of 20 to 47 square metres. Corporate apartments range from SEK 7,750 to SEK 11,800 plus VAT.
Yes. Just under half of the available apartments are let exclusively to legal entities. The arrangement suits anyone invoicing through their own company, such as consultant physicians and agency nurses.
Several apartments are available for quick move-in, typically a matter of weeks from viewing to keys. New units are added continuously.
No. No registration, no queue fee and no waiting time. You register your interest, come to a viewing and are assessed as an applicant.
No. The model works particularly well for people relocating to Stockholm for a new job, who by definition have no accumulated queue time in the city.
A first-hand contract is a first-hand contract. Security of tenure applies under Swedish rental law, and you won't be given notice for changing employer.
The project comprises 130 rental apartments at Edsvallabacken 1 and Fryksdalsbacken 3.
No. There are more units available than those shown online. Contact us or come to a viewing to see the full selection.