This thesis examines the formative years of the Swedish tenants´ associations in Gothenburg and Stockholm and the strategies used by these organizations to alter the housing market, both on a local and on a national level. It is both a transfer analysis, examining how strategies from the labor market came to be applied to the rental market and a comparative study, comparing tenants´ associations in two Swedish cities. Hyresgästernas Centralförsamling (HCF) in Gothenburg had a more conflict-oriented approach toward both individual and collectively organized landlords. The organizational structure of HCF was similar to that of a trade union federation. This differed from Stockholms Hyresgästförening (SHG). Resembling more a political association than a militant union, SHG adopted strategies more focused on gaining legislative protection for tenants and increasing the supply of available housing. This was partly achieved through the co-operative housing society Hyresgästernas Sparkasse- och Byggnadsförening (HSB). This thesis argues that the common denominator for all these strategies was to reduce the internal competition between tenants and thus strengthening them as a collective force on the rental market. The main conclusion of the thesis is that the tenants´ associations cannot be easily categorized by standard organizational models. Shaped by local, organizational and ideological factors the tenants´ associations were hybrid organizations resembling both trade unions, cooperative societies