In Sweden, public housing companies – Allmännyttan – have traditionally ensured housing access to the general public. While previous studies highlight the significance of rental requirements for housing accessibility, the rationales behind relaxed requirements and their impact on other welfare sectors remain underexplored. This study aims to investigate public housing companies’ reasoning behind their rental requirements and to explore the effects of relaxed requirements on social services and measures to reach greater inclusion. To reach this aim, the study employs interviews with public housing and municipal social service authority respondents and utilises a theoretical framework emphasising institutions, actors, and ideas/ideologies in processes of housing policy change. Findings indicate that the reasoning of public housing companies’ regarding their rental requirements was structured around social responsibility, reasonability, and profitability. The relaxation of income requirements often stemmed from political motivations to enhance social inclusion, though conflicting neoliberal tendencies persist. Respondents from social service authorities reported no significant effects from relaxed requirements, partly due to demarcated responsibilities in relation to structural homelessness. Several measures were highlighted by respondents to reach a more inclusive rental housing market. Taken together, these findings hold important implications for ensuring universal housing access in Sweden.