Rules for shore protection

Properties located within 100 meters of the shoreline of a lake, sea or watercourse are normally covered by shore protection. In some parts of the country and in areas of national interest for nature conservation and outdoor recreation, the shore protection area is extended to 300 meters.

Shore protection aims to provide the public access to beaches for outdoor recreation and to provide good living conditions for plant and animal life. If you want to build new or extend within a shore-protected area, you must apply for a shore protection dispensation together with your building permit application. This also applies to building-permit-free measures such as friggebodar, Attefallshus, fences and jetties.

Shore protection can be revoked or replaced by a detailed development plan

Along certain highly developed shorelines, the shore protection has been lifted and then a shore protection dispensation is not required. If your waterside property is located in an area covered by a detailed development plan, the detailed plan's rules replace the shore protection. The plan map's markings with buildable land, dotted and cross-marked areas regulate where on the plot you may and may not build. On a planned lakeside plot with dotted markings along the shoreline it may be possible to build an Attefallshus or a friggebod because these buildings do not have to comply with the detailed plan.

Apply for and obtain a dispensation from shore protection

You can be granted a dispensation from the shore protection regulations if there are special reasons. The only reason that can practically be used by private individuals is that the land is already taken into use. This means that there is already a residential house adjacent to the intended building site. This residential house is then considered to prevent the public from being present there. The radius considered protected in this way varies depending on the property's conditions, how accessible the site is and whether you want to build closer to the shore than the existing house or further away. Approximately up to 25 meters from the residential house can, however, be a simple rule of thumb to assess whether you have good chances of obtaining a dispensation to build an additional house. The assessment applies, just like a building permit, to a specific house. If you have been granted a dispensation and want to change the size, design and window configuration of the house, a new permit is required.

If you want to replace an existing house with a new one the dispensation is assessed individually. Whether a different location or larger area than the existing house will be approved is determined by the impact the new house is considered to have on mobile outdoor recreation and the living conditions of plants and animals. A long fully glazed facade facing the shore may be judged to have a more restrictive effect on a canoeist paddling by than a shorter facade with smaller window areas. A wider jetty may be considered to affect the light conditions in the water and disturb aquatic organisms more than a narrower jetty.

We assist you with the entire process

Ultimately, a decision on a shore protection dispensation is preceded by a weighing of several arguments and factors. We are accustomed to helping our clients formulate the most relevant reasons based on the circumstances and adapt the design of the house to obtain dispensation and a building permit. In more complicated cases we cooperate with one of Sweden's most experienced lawyers in the field who assists our clients further.