Renting out a boat berth: how it works and the rules that apply

Are you allowed to rent out the berth?

It depends on who owns the jetty and the water, and what agreement you have.

Your own jetty

If you have your own jetty by your plot, you may rent out berths at it. If the jetty belongs to a joint property association (samfällighet) or a jetty association (bryggförening), or stands on someone else's water, read the agreement or the statutes first.

A berth in a boat club

The clubs' rules differ, but subletting is as a rule either forbidden or requires the board's approval. Some examples:

• Gröndals Båtklubb: the berth may not be lent or rented out without the board's consent.
• Strands Båtklubb: the holder of the berth may not rent it out.
• Hissö Båtklubb: requires the board's approval, for no more than two years in a row. Anyone who rents out without approval can be expelled.
• Skogsviks Båtklubb: subletting has not been allowed since 2025.

Read your club's statutes (stadgar) and harbour rules (hamnordning), and ask the board before you rent out.

A berth in a municipal harbour

The municipalities also have different rules:

• Jönköping and Simrishamn do not allow subletting.
• Sotenäs allows it with the municipality's consent, for no more than two seasons. Without consent, your berth agreement can be terminated.

Check the rules for your harbour with the municipality.

What the law says

In most cases a rented boat berth counts as a site lease (lägenhetsarrende). You may then not let the berth to anyone else without the consent of the person you rent from (Chapter 8, Section 19 of the Land Code, jordabalken). Ask for the consent in writing.

Summer berths and winter storage

Boat berths are rented out in two ways, and renters look for different things:

• Summer berth in the water: at a Y-boom, alongside the jetty or on a buoy. Rented per night, week, month or for the whole season. What matters most to the renter is that the boat fits, so state the length, width and depth.
• Winter storage on land: storage on your plot, on a boat stand or in a garage. Rented per day, week, month or season. The renter needs to know how the boat gets onto land, by crane, ramp or on a trailer, and whether it can be accessed during the winter.

How to set the price

There is no official price list for private rental of boat berths, so start from your own berth and what the alternatives cost:

• The location. Proximity to fairways, the archipelago, town and transport links, and how sheltered the berth is from waves and wind.
• The dimensions. Length, width and depth determine which boats fit.
• What is included. Y-boom or buoy, electricity and water on the jetty, parking nearby, and for a winter storage spot whether there is a crane or ramp.
• What it costs nearby. Look at what municipal harbours, boat clubs and guest harbours charge in your area. Anyone who rents from you will compare with them.
• How long. Per night or week suits visiting boats, but means more renters to deal with. A renter for the whole season gives a known amount and a single person to keep in touch with.

Worked example

You charge SEK 180 per night and the berth is booked for 20 nights over the summer: 180 × 20 = SEK 3,600. AfterAntPark's 10% service fee you get SEK 3,240, before tax. If you instead rent out the whole season to one renter for SEK 10,000, you get SEK 9,000.

The figures are only an example. What your berth is worth depends on the location and the demand where it is.

Tax on the income

The income is taxed as income from capital, and the tax on the surplus is 30%. The Swedish Tax Agency has no guidance of its own for boat berths. The closest are the rules for parking spaces, which are based on the same provisions of law. Under those rules, what decides it is whether or not the space belongs to your home.

“Probably” means that the rule has been stated for parking spaces but not for boat berths. The first row also assumes that the jetty and the water belong to your property. If the jetty stands on someone else's water or on jointly owned water, the same does not apply. For joint property associations, however, there is an explicit rule, which applies to all jointly owned property that is rented out and therefore also to a jointly owned jetty. If you are unsure, ask the Swedish Tax Agency before you file your tax return.

This applies whatever kind of berth it is:

• The standard deduction applies per home and year, not per person. It is shared with other income from the same home, for example a rented-out parking space or sold solar power.
• If you rent out through a platform that only arranges the booking, you must declare the full price the renter pays, including the platform's fee.
• You must declare the income yourself, even if the platform has reported information about you to the Swedish Tax Agency.

The Swedish Tax Agency has a rental calculator (in Swedish) where you can work out your own situation.

VAT

Renting out boat berths and winter storage spots on land is subject to VAT (moms). Under the VAT Act (mervärdesskattelagen), the exemption for immovable property does not apply to spaces for parking “including mooring and anchoring” (”inklusive förtöjning och ankring”) of means of transport (Chapter 10, Section 36), and the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that boats count as vehicles under that rule.

For most private individuals there will still be no VAT. If your total sales subject to VAT are no more than SEK 120,000 per calendar year, and have not been higher in the two previous years, you are exempt from VAT without having to apply. If you rent out several berths or on a larger scale, ask the Swedish Tax Agency what applies.

Reporting to the Swedish Tax Agency

Under the EU's rules on platform reporting (DAC7), digital platforms must collect information about anyone who rents out immovable property and report the income to the Swedish Tax Agency every year. Parking spaces are explicitly covered. Whether boat berths are is not clear: the law speaks of renting out immovable property without mentioning boat berths. In a VAT judgment, the Court of Justice of the EU has treated boat berths in a harbour as immovable property.

Expect that the platform may ask for information such as your personal identity number (personnummer) and address. Whatever the platform reports, you work out and declare the surplus yourself.

Insurance and damage

Contact your insurance company before you start renting out. The terms differ between companies, and a jetty often has weaker cover than the house.

• Your own jetty. In house insurance (villaförsäkring) the jetty often counts as part of the plot, with a limited amount. Storm damage to jetties is, for example, not covered by Folksam's or If's house insurance, according to the terms in force in 2026.
• The rental. The liability cover in a house insurance policy may exclude damage connected with business activity (förvärvsverksamhet). Ask the company whether renting out affects your cover.
• The renter's boat. Boat insurance is not compulsory in Sweden. If the renter has it, it always includes liability cover, which pays for damage the boat causes to others when the owner is liable to pay damages. So ask the renter to have boat insurance. Liability insurance does, however, usually exclude damage to things the insured person is renting, and that may apply to the jetty where the boat is moored.
• Your liability. If someone is injured because the jetty is in poor condition, you may have to pay damages if you have been negligent (Chapter 2, Section 1 of the Tort Liability Act, skadeståndslagen). Keep the jetty, ladders and moorings in good condition.
• AntPark arranges the booking but does not compensate for damage to the boat or the berth. That is a matter between you, the renter and your insurers. Read more in the terms (in Swedish).

Electricity and water on the jetty

Electricity and water make the berth worth more, but electricity near water demands more than indoors. This is what the Swedish National Electrical Safety Board (Elsäkerhetsverket) says:

• New fixed electrical installations, such as sockets on the jetty, must be carried out by a registered electrical installation company. The same rules apply outdoors as indoors.
• Outdoor sockets must always be earthed, and new sockets must have a residual current device (jordfelsbrytare). Test the residual current device at least twice a year.
• In a harbour with several boat berths, the Swedish National Electrical Safety Board recommends CEE connectors for connecting leisure boats.

The Swedish Tax Agency has only described the tax on electricity you charge for in the case of EV chargers at parking spaces. There, electricity charged by consumption is reported as a sale of electricity, separate from the rent, and if the electricity is included in the rent, everything is reported as rental. The Swedish Tax Agency has not said whether the same applies to electricity on a jetty.

Building or altering a jetty

We have not found any rules that require a permit to rent out an existing jetty that you do not alter. If you are going to build a new jetty, extend it or add Y-booms, however, several sets of rules apply:

• Shoreline protection (strandskydd). According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket), jetties are an example of structures that are prohibited within a shoreline protection area without an exemption (dispens). An exemption is usually applied for from the municipality and is granted restrictively. Since 1 July 2025, there is no shoreline protection at lakes of no more than one hectare, at watercourses no more than two metres wide or at waters created after 30 June 1975.
• Water operations (vattenverksamhet). A new jetty or an extension usually requires a notification to the county administrative board (länsstyrelsen), and larger jetty installations require a permit. If you only renovate the jetty deck and the dimensions stay the same, it counts as maintenance.
• Building permit (bygglov). A building permit is required to construct or substantially alter a harbour for leisure boats. According to the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket), smaller jetties with a few boat berths do not usually count as a harbour, but in case law a jetty with around 20 berths has done so. The County Administrative Board of Östergötland counts a jetty with room for ten boats or more as a harbour facility. So if you extend to create more berths to rent out, a building permit may be required.

If the jetty was built with a shoreline protection exemption, read the decision. It may contain conditions, for example that the jetty must not be fitted with signs or anything else that hinders the public.

The right of public access (allemansrätten)

According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, boaters may moor and stay overnight for the odd day or so at a shore or jetty that is far from anyone's house. Jetties that are part of a residential plot count as private land and are not covered by the right of public access. A jetty that is outside the plot and cannot be seen from the home may be used temporarily, but the owner must not be prevented from using it. Anyone who rents from you instead gets a berth that is theirs for the whole booked period.

Renting out with AntPark

AntPark has its own boat mode for boat berths and winter storage spots. The app has not launched yet. Leave your email and we will be in touch. The listing is created in three steps:

1. What and where. In the water or on land. For a berth in the water you state the mooring (Y-boom, alongside or buoy), the maximum length and beam, and the draught. For a winter storage spot you state what type of spot it is, the largest boat, the height on trailer and whether there is a crane or ramp. Without a crane the boat must arrive on a trailer.
2. When and price. The season, which applies every year, and a price per night or day, week, month or for the whole season. The season price means one renter for the whole period.
3. Rules. Instant booking or request, cancellation policy and instructions for the renter.

Then the following applies:

• The renter sees in the listing whether the boat fits, for example 8.1 m of 9 m. A boat that draws too much for the berth cannot be booked.
• Electricity and water on the jetty are marked under “On the dock”, and the map shows free nights in a date strip.
• For a winter storage spot you state whether the renter can access the boat during the season or whether the spot is locked.
• A season booking can be cancelled free of charge up to 30 days before the start.
• The service fee is 10% from each party. The money is paid out seven days after the booking has ended, and a season is paid out one month at a time.
• Everyone who books has verified their mobile number, and after every booking you rate each other.

Checklist

• You own the jetty, or have consent from the club, harbour or association to rent out the berth.
• You know the berth's dimensions: length, width and depth.
• The jetty and the mooring are in good condition: Y-boom, rings, bollards or buoy.
• The electricity on the jetty has been installed by an authorised electrician.
• You know how the renter gets to the jetty: gate, key and where the car can be parked.
• You have asked your insurance company what applies, and decided whether the renter must have boat insurance.
• You keep records for your tax return: income and costs.