Attefall House

No, planning permission is usually not required for an extension to your house with a surface area of no more than 15 square metres. However, you must register and receive a start notice before you can begin the construction process. This is the exception:

• If you are planning an extension to a house or in an area of particular historical, cultural, environmental or artistic importance, planning permission may be necessary. Contact the building permit officer for further information.

Read more on our blog post: When is planning permission needed?

No, planning permission is not normally required for an Attefallshus. However, you must register and receive a start notice before starting the construction process.

Other conditions include that there must be a one- or two-family house on the property. The building must function as an independent complementary building to the main building and can be used both as a permanent residence and as a holiday home. There are exceptions regarding:

• If you plan to build near an area of historical, cultural, environmental or artistic value or near an existing residence, planning permission may be necessary.

Read more on our blog post: When is planning permission needed?

When you elaborate something that is not subject to a building permit, you may still have to apply for a building notification, see some examples below:

• Demolition of a building or part of a building that is not an accessory building and is outside an area that is detailed planned.

• Making changes to a building that significantly affect load-bearing structures or the floor plan.

• Install or make substantial changes to fireplaces or flues.

• Install or make substantial changes to elevators or devices for ventilation, as well as water supply and drainage.

• Make changes to a building that significantly affect fire protection.

• Maintain a building with special conservation value that is subject to protection regulations according to the detailed plan or area regulations.

• Build a new wind turbine or make significant changes to an existing one.

No, normally no building permit is needed for an Attefallshus. However, it is required that you make a report and receive a start notice before you can start construction.

An important prerequisite is that the building is an independent complementary building to the main building, for example a garage, carport, storage room, guest cabin, wood shed, greenhouse, sauna or boat house. This is the exception:

• If you plan to build near a house or in an area of particularly high historical, cultural, environmental or artistic value, planning permission may be necessary. Contact a building permit officer for further information.

Read more on our blog post: When is planning permission needed?

A secondary building is a building permit-exempt accessory building (or accessory residential building) that requires notification to the municipality but does not require a building permit. It may be used as a guest house, office, residence or storage, provided that it complies with the PBL and the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's building regulations (BBR).

• The standard roof is 30 m² building area .

• However, the government is proposing a new pot model where you can freely dispose of up to 45 m² within the detailed plan (30 + 15), and up to 65 m² outside the detailed plan. These changes are planned to come into effect in October 2025 .

Maximum roof ridge height is 4 meters above ground according to BBR.

The minimum distance is 4.5 meters from the property boundary, unless the neighbor has approved otherwise in writing.

No – temporary buildings are exempt from building permits but require notification . You must also wait for a start notice from the municipality before starting construction.

It is common to use it as a guest house, home office, rental, hobby room or storage. Some purposes require additional permits, e.g. for water/sewerage and ventilation according to PBL/BBR

The cost varies depending on the standard, area and foundation. An estimate is usually around SEK 20,000–40,000 per m² , including foundation, plumbing, electricity and labor.

The processing time for the application can be a few weeks to several months , depending on the municipality. The construction itself often takes 3–6 months , including the foundation and installations.

These documents facilitate the process of obtaining a start-up certificate and are particularly important for technical safety and moisture prevention measures:

• Building permit drawings

• Construction drawings according to EKS

• Moisture safety description according to BBR Chapter 6

• Plumbing documents

• Description of ground conditions

• Situation plan

• Control plan with inspection points