Placepoint

Detaljplan

A detaljplan is a legally binding plan that a Swedish municipality adopts for a defined area. It sets out what the land may be used for, how much may be built, and how the development is to be designed.

The legal basis is plan- och bygglagen (PBL, 2010:900) chapter 4. Under PBL 4 kap. 1 §, the municipality may regulate the use of land, water and development through detaljplaner or områdesbestämmelser, and both carry rättsverkan: legally binding effect, directly on both the municipality and the landowners. The municipality decides for itself whether planning work should start. This is known as the municipal planning monopoly, and it works much like a Norwegian municipality adopting a reguleringsplan: both are municipal, political decisions that govern later building case processing.

The comparison with the reguleringsplan holds up well. Swedish law does not distinguish between områderegulering and detaljregulering; both Norwegian plan types correspond roughly to the same Swedish instrument. Two features still have no Norwegian counterpart. The first is the genomförandetid. Under PBL 4 kap. 21 §, the municipality must set a genomförandetid of at least five and at most fifteen years, counted from the day the plan gains laga kraft. Before that period ends, the plan cannot be changed or revoked against the will of an affected landowner (4 kap. 39 §), unless it is necessary because of new circumstances of major public importance. Once the genomförandetid has ended, the plan continues to apply but loses this protection: the municipality may then change or revoke it without the landowner's consent. An extension or renewal is granted for at most five years at a time (4 kap. 24 §).

The second feature is that the genomförandetid gives the landowner a direct and enforceable right to build. Bygglov must be granted for a measure that complies with the plan, and the municipality cannot use discretion to refuse an application the plan permits (9 kap. 56 §). A Norwegian reguleringsplan gives no equivalent time-limited and absolute right. The municipality still has room for discretion, and a deviation requires a dispensasjon even within the lifetime of the plan.

The plan gains laga kraft at the earliest three weeks after the decision has been announced on the municipal notice board, provided that no one has appealed and that länsstyrelsen has not decided to review the decision. If the plan is appealed, the case goes to the mark- och miljödomstolen, and the plan does not gain laga kraft until the appeal has been finally decided. The full course from planbesked to laga kraft, including the choice between standardförfarande and utökat förfarande, is described in planprocess.

Once the plan has gained laga kraft, the municipality sends the documents to Lantmäteriet, which registers the plan in the fastighetsregistret. Sweden has no national planning register equivalent to Plandata at Kartverket: each of the 290 municipalities manages its own detaljplaner. Combify has collected close to 120,000 detaljplaner directly from the municipalities, since that is the only way to achieve national coverage.

From Placepoint's ordbok: Detaljplan

More information: Riksdagen: Plan- och bygglag (2010:900), Boverket: Genomförandetid, Boverket: Detaljplaneinstrumentet

English: Detailed development plan under Swedish law, closest to a Norwegian reguleringsplan.

Common questions we come across

What is a detaljplan?

A detaljplan is a legally binding plan that a Swedish municipality adopts for a defined area. It sets out land use, development density and design, and its legal basis is plan- och bygglagen chapter 4.

What is the difference between a detaljplan and a Norwegian reguleringsplan?

Both are municipal, binding land use plans, but the detaljplan has a statutory genomförandetid of at least five and at most fifteen years, during which the landowner has a direct right to build in line with the plan. A Norwegian reguleringsplan has no equivalent time-limited right to build.

What happens when the genomförandetid ends?

The plan continues to apply, but loses the special protection against change. The municipality may then change or revoke the plan without the consent of affected landowners, and any renewal is granted for at most five years at a time.

Who decides whether a detaljplan is to be prepared?

The municipality holds the planning monopoly and decides for itself whether planning work should start. Anyone who wants a detaljplan can ask for a planbesked, which the municipality must answer within four months.

How does a detaljplan become legally binding?

The plan gains laga kraft at the earliest three weeks after the decision has been announced, provided that no one has appealed to the mark- och miljödomstolen and that länsstyrelsen does not review the decision. The whole route there, from planbesked to laga kraft, is described in planprocess.