The impact of changing daylight requirements on housing quality

In Sweden, there is a large demand for residential properties, especially seen in fast growing cities. Daylight also plays a central role in human well-being and is an important aspect of design. In July 2025, new building regulations “Möjligheternas byggregler” will be introduced by Boverket, the Swedish National Board Of Housing, Building and Planning. The purpose is to investigate how the changes in the daylight regulations affect design, the living environment and well-being. The current and new regulations were compared through qualitative analysis and daylight simulations. Two example apartments were used, three rooms apartments. No other apartment types are included. The work is mostly limited to the Swedish regulations. The result shows that the new daylight regulation in most cases simplifies assessment but may lead to inconsistencies in interpretation and application. The work highlights the importance of incorporating daylight early in the design process. Interior windows and other innovative solutions may help compensate for the lack of direct daylight. Overall, it shows the need for further development of both the regulations and assessment methods to ensure that the residential properties are good, which is especially important in a time when the cities are densifying.