Housing allowance and housing supplement in Sweden
What are housing allowance and housing supplement in Sweden?
Housing allowance (bostadsbidrag) and housing supplement (bostadstillägg) is financial support you can receive to help you pay your monthly rent or monthly charge for your housing.
You can also receive housing allowance even if you own your house, your apartment, or if you live in a sublet.
Who is entitled to housing allowance in Sweden?
Not everyone is entitled to housing allowance or housing supplement. Different life situations entitle you to apply for housing allowance. Choose the life situation below that applies to you, to see if you may be entitled to housing allowance.
Housing allowance for families with children is support for families with children who need help to pay the rent or monthly charge for their housing.
The Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) is responsible for this benefit.
Housing allowance for young people under 29 is support for young people who need help to pay the rent or monthly charge for their housing.
The Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) is responsible for this benefit.
Housing supplement for people receiving sickness compensation or activity compensation is money you can receive in addition to your activity compensation or sickness compensation if you have housing costs. You can only receive housing supplement if you live in Sweden. You can apply regardless of your living arrangements and even if you own your housing. You can apply for housing benefit even if you have assets. Your housing costs, your income, your assets and your family situation determine how much you can receive as housing supplement.
The Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) is responsible for this benefit.
You can apply for housing supplement for the elderly from the date of your 67th birthday if you are drawing full retirement pension. You can apply regardless of your living arrangements and even if you own your housing. You can apply for housing benefit even if you have assets. Your housing costs, your income, your assets and your family situation determine how much you can receive as housing supplement.
Often, you may be entitled to housing supplement later in life. For example, you may be able to apply for housing supplement if you have moved from your partner or if you have become a widow/widower, if your income is lower, for example if your occupational pension stops, or if you have moved and your housing costs have increased.
When you apply for housing supplement, the Swedish Pensions Agency (Pensionsmyndigheten) also examines whether you are entitled to a personal supplement (äldreförsörjningsstöd). The personal supplement is a supplement for your upkeep if you have low income as a pensioner.
The Swedish Pensions Agency is responsible for this benefit.
What are the conditions for housing allowance and housing supplement in Sweden?
You must live in Sweden and be registered at an address in Sweden to receive housing allowance or housing supplement. The regulations about how much you can receive vary between the different benefits. The amount can depend on, for example, your income, how many children live at home, your housing costs, and the size of your housing.
How does housing allowance work in Sweden?
Housing allowance is a tax-free grant from the state. It is a grant you can receive to help with the rent or monthly housing charge. Housing allowance is not to cover the full amount, but serves as a supplement to your monthly rent or monthly charge.
How much housing allowance can I receive?
The amount you can receive depends on, for example, your income and housing costs, and your life situation.
Contact Försäkringskassan or the Swedish Pensions Agency (Pensionsmyndigheten) for information on how much you are entitled to receive.
How do you apply for housing allowance or housing supplement?
You can apply to Försäkringskassan for housing allowance. If you receive sickness compensation or activity compensation, you apply to Försäkringskassan for housing supplement (bostadstillägg).
If you are over 67 and drawing full pension, you can apply for housing supplement from the Swedish Pensions Agency.
How do you apply for housing allowance if you live in Sweden and work in another country?
You are normally covered by social insurance in the country in which you live and work, but housing allowance and housing supplement are residence-based benefits. If you live in Sweden and work in another Nordic country, you may be entitled to the part of the housing allowance that comprises financial support for housing costs in Sweden.
Housing allowance and housing supplement are needs based, and your income from abroad affects how much housing allowance or housing supplement you can receive in Sweden. It is Försäkringskassan and the Swedish Pensions Agency that process applications for housing allowance and housing supplement, so contact these agencies when you want to apply from Sweden.
You must notify Försäkringskassan or the Swedish Pensions Agency if you move to or start working in another country while receiving housing allowance or housing supplement from Sweden.
Who should you contact if you have questions?
Call the Försäkringskassan Customer Centre at 0771-524 524, or look on the Försäkringskassan website if you have questions about housing allowance for families with children, if you are a young person, or if you have questions about housing supplement for people receiving sickness compensation or activity compensation.
Contact the Swedish Pensions Agency if you have questions about housing supplement for the elderly. The Swedish Pensions Agency also arranges live online information meetings about housing supplement. At these meetings, you are given information about housing supplement and you can ask questions.
More information
More information is available from Försäkringskassan and the Swedish Pensions Agency.
Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.
NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.