Belåningsgrad

Belåningsgrad is your mortgage divided by the market value of the home. The word means “loan-to-value ratio”. If you borrow 3 million kr on a home worth 4 million kr, your belåningsgrad is 75 percent. It is a simple figure, but it controls one important thing: how much you have to pay down (amortera) each year.

How belåningsgrad sets your amortisation

If your mortgage is above 70 percent of the home’s value, you pay down at least 2 percent of the loan each year. Between 50 and 70 percent, the requirement is at least 1 percent per year. Below 50 percent there is no legal amortisation requirement (amorteringskrav). The more you pay off, the lower your belåningsgrad becomes, and the less you have to pay down going forward.

What changes in 2026

From 1 April 2026 you can borrow up to 90 percent of the home’s value instead of 85 percent. That lowers the cash deposit (kontantinsats) from 15 to 10 percent, so 400 000 kr instead of 600 000 kr on a home priced at 4 million kr. At the same time the stricter amortisation requirement is removed (the extra rule that applied to households with mortgages above 4.5 times their yearly income), and the cap for top-up loans (tilläggslån) on a home you already own is lowered to 80 percent.

What you should do

Work out your belåningsgrad before you place a bid: your intended loan divided by the price you think you will land on. If you end up just above 70 percent, a slightly larger cash deposit can take you under the line and halve your amortisation requirement, which lowers your monthly cost. It is worth running the numbers both ways before you decide how much to put down in cash.