Fastighetsbeteckning
A fastighetsbeteckning is the name and number that uniquely identifies a fastighet (a Swedish property unit) in Sweden, made up of a municipality name, a trakt name and one or two numbers.
The usual form is Kommun Trakt Block:Enhet, for example "Gävle Olsbacka 11:1": Gävle is the municipality, Olsbacka is the trakt (a historical place name, often an old village or cluster of farms), 11 is the block number and 1 is the unit number within the block. Many fastigheter, in particular older plots or closely subdivided plots in built-up areas, have no block number and are written with a trakt name and a single running number, for example "Solna Svärdsliljan 1". The municipality name is rarely spoken in everyday use (people say "Svärdsliljan 1", not "Solna Svärdsliljan 1"), but it is an integral part of the official, unique beteckning: the same combination of trakt name and numbers can occur in two different municipalities without a clash, because the municipality name separates them.
Lantmäteriet assigns and changes fastighetsbeteckningar in connection with fastighetsbildning. In an avstyckning, the new property gets the next free unit number in the same trakt (the parent property Olsbacka 11:1 can, for example, give rise to Olsbacka 11:2). In a sammanläggning, one of the old beteckningar disappears. A municipality can also apply to change the trakt name for a whole area, which normally happens in connection with a larger rezoning or a municipal merger, and which then changes the beteckning for every property in the trakt at the same time. The beteckning is not an address: a property can have one, several or no belägenhetsadresser attached to it, regardless of what it is called in the register.
The beteckning is what you search on in practice: a title registration application with Lantmäteriet, a property map or a transfer document always refers to the property by this beteckning, never by an address or a coordinate pair, in the same way that a Norwegian skjøte always refers to the matrikkel number. In towns and cities, the trakt is often named after a block or a historical district (Svärdsliljan is a block in Solna), while in the countryside the trakt historically followed the socken name, the old parish division that lost its civil administrative role through the 1862 reform (in force from 1863, when each socken was split into a civil rural municipality and a church parish) but still lives on in countless trakt names. That means a fastighetsbeteckning often tells you something about the history of a place that a plain pair of numbers never can.
The Norwegian equivalent is gårdsnummer and bruksnummer, combined in the matrikkelnummer: a pure pair of numbers (municipality number-gnr/bnr) with no place name, assigned in sequence by the municipality. The similarity stops there. The Norwegian matrikkelnummer is a plain number series that can be sorted and parsed by machine without a dictionary. The Swedish fastighetsbeteckning carries a proper name (the trakt name) as part of the identifier itself, and trakt names are not standardised across municipalities: two properties can be called "Storskogen 1:1" in two different municipalities without either one saying anything about the other. That makes the beteckning easier to recognise for someone who knows the area (Svärdsliljan says something about the place), but harder to merge and sort programmatically than the plain Norwegian pair of numbers.
From Placepoint's glossary: Fastighetsbeteckning
More information: Lantmäteriet: Hitta fastighetsbeteckning i Min karta, Lantmäteriet: Innehåll i fastighetsregistret
English: Fastighetsbeteckning is the Swedish property designation, the official name-plus-number identifier of a fastighet (Swedish-specific term).
Frequently asked questions
What is a fastighetsbeteckning?
It is the official identifier for a fastighet in Sweden, built up from a municipality name, a trakt name and one or two numbers, for example "Solna Svärdsliljan 1". It is assigned and changed by Lantmäteriet.
Why do some fastighetsbeteckningar have two numbers and others only one?
Two numbers (block:enhet) are used where the trakt is divided into blocks, typically older urban areas. One number is used where the trakt has no block division. Both forms are equally valid and unique within their municipality and trakt.
Can a fastighetsbeteckning change?
Yes. In an avstyckning, the new property gets a new unit number. In a sammanläggning, one of the old beteckningar disappears. Trakt names can also be changed in a larger rezoning, and the beteckning then changes for all properties in the trakt.
Is the fastighetsbeteckning the same as an address?
No. A property can have no addresses, one address or several addresses, regardless of its beteckning. The addresses sit in a separate part of the fastighetsregistret.
What is the Norwegian equivalent of the fastighetsbeteckning?
Gårdsnummer and bruksnummer, combined in the matrikkelnummer. The difference is that the Norwegian number is a plain number series with no place name, while the Swedish beteckning always contains a trakt name as part of the identifier.