Samfällighet
A samfällighet is something several fastigheter (Swedish properties) own or have a right to jointly, not as individuals, but as properties. The right follows the fastighet on sale, with no separate deed. It can be an area of land, a road, a shared well or a facility such as heating or broadband.
Lagen (1973:1150) om förvaltning av samfälligheter § 1 defines samfällighet broadly: land that several fastigheter own together, easements and other rights belonging to several fastigheter, and gemensamhetsanläggningar created under anläggningslagen (1973:1149). A gemensamhetsanläggning is the facility itself, for example an internal road, a car park or a sewage pipe, created by lantmäteriförrättning under anläggningslagen 1 §, provided the facility is of material importance to the properties that are to take part (5 §).
Management can take two forms: delägarförvaltning, where the owners run things jointly without a separate board, or föreningsförvaltning, where a samfällighetsförening takes over. Under samfällighetslagen 17 §, the samfällighetsförening is an association that can acquire rights and take on obligations, that is, a legal person in its own right, registered with Lantmäteriet in the samfällighetsföreningsregistret, with its own board, its own articles and an annual föreningsstämma. The association's only purpose is to manage the samfällighet it was set up for (18 §), and for gemensamhetsanläggningar of a technical nature, such as roads or pipes serving residential properties, it must set aside funds in a reserve for maintenance and renewal (19 §).
Each participating fastighet is given an andelstal, a fraction that determines both voting weight and how large a share of the costs the owner must cover. The andelstal is set by Lantmäteriet in the förrättningsbeslut itself and can later be changed in two ways: by agreement between the property owner and the board, registered for a fee of 8,000 kr per facility plus 1,000 kr per property beyond the first (anläggningslagen 43 §), or, where the förrättning has given the board authority to do so, by a board decision, registered for 4,500 kr per facility plus 800 kr per property beyond the first (24 a §).
This is why a Swedish home buyer so often inherits a membership without ever applying for it: the share in the samfällighet is a feature of the fastighet, not of the owner, and passes automatically on transfer. The reverse also applies: if you sell the fastighet, the share does not follow you on to any new property, it stays with the fastighet it has always been tied to.
The law distinguishes between types of samfällighet by what they rest on: a samfällighet can arise from fastighetsbildningslagen itself (shared land from an earlier fastighetsreglering), from anläggningslagen (a gemensamhetsanläggning), or, exceptionally, from older rights attached to a socken. Samfällighetslagen § 2 makes it explicit that the act applies only so far as it does not conflict with other legislation, so a samfällighet never overrides, for example, detaljplan provisions for the area.
The Norwegian parallel is realsameie and veilag, both of which rest on the same idea that the property, not the person, owns the share. The difference is the formalisation: a Swedish samfällighetsförening is a registered legal person with an andelstal set by a state authority in a binding decision, whereas a Norwegian veilag rarely has equivalent registration or an officially set fraction, and a realsameie often operates with no organised board at all.
From Placepoint's ordbok: Samfällighet
More information: Lantmäteriet: Samfällighet, äga och använda gemensamt, Riksdagen: Lag (1973:1150) om förvaltning av samfälligheter, Riksdagen: Anläggningslag (1973:1149)
English: Joint property facility / property association (Swedish-specific: shared ownership or rights that attach to the properties themselves, managed by a registered legal person).
Frequently asked questions
What is a samfällighet?
Something several fastigheter own or have a right to jointly, for example an area of land, a road or a facility. The right follows the fastighet on sale, not the owner.
What is the difference between a samfällighet and a gemensamhetsanläggning?
Samfällighet is the broad legal term for shared ownership or rights between properties. A gemensamhetsanläggning is the concrete facility, such as a road or a pipe, created to serve the properties jointly.
What is a samfällighetsförening?
The association that manages a samfällighet on behalf of the participating properties. It is a registered legal person with its own board, its own articles and an annual föreningsstämma.
What is an andelstal?
The fraction that determines how much each property pays to the samfällighet and what voting weight the owner has. It is set by Lantmäteriet in the förrättningsbeslut.
Why do I inherit membership of a samfällighetsförening when I buy a home in Sweden?
Because the share in the samfällighet is tied to the fastighet, not to whoever owns it. On sale, the membership passes automatically to the new owner.
What is the Norwegian parallel to a samfällighet?
Realsameie and veilag. The difference is that the Swedish samfällighetsförening is a registered legal person with an andelstal set by a state authority, which the Norwegian arrangements rarely have to the same degree.