Zoning, building permits and shore protection

The detailed plan

The municipality may regulate land and water use and building with detailed plans (chapter 4, section 1), and must for example test new built-up areas in one (section 2). The plan says what the land may be used for, how high and how much may be built and what must be kept. Ask the municipality's planning office before buying.

The building permit

A permit is needed for new building (chapter 9, section 3), extensions and some other changes. Since the 2025 reform (Act 2025:974) no permit is needed within a detailed plan for an outbuilding or annex dwelling of at most 30 square metres, smaller than the main building, with a ridge height of at most 4 metres, placed on the plot, if the plot's outbuildings together stay within 45 square metres (section 4). Other rules may still require a permit or notification – nearness to the boundary, for example.

The building committee must decide within ten weeks of a complete application (section 99). Always ask the municipality before larger works – and when buying, check that what was built had a permit.

From the law

«Strandskyddet omfattar land- och vattenområdet intill 100 meter från strandlinjen vid normalt medelvattenstånd (strandskyddsområde).»

Shore protection

Shore protection applies by the sea, lakes and watercourses and covers land and water up to 100 metres from the shoreline; the county board may extend it to at most 300 metres (Environmental Code, chapter 7, sections 13 and 14). Since 2025 it does not apply by lakes of one hectare or less or by watercourses two metres wide or narrower, unless the county board decides otherwise (sections 13 a and 13 b).

Within a protected shore zone new buildings and some other measures need an exemption. The Stockholm County Administrative Board shows the shore protection on its county map.