STOCKHOLM, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Alecta, Sweden's largest pension fund provider, said on Thursday that one of Europe's biggest landlords, Heimstaden Bostad, is in need of more cash, and that it may contribute.

The events are the latest in a worsening property crisis for Sweden where developers are grappling with large debts, rapidly rising interest rates and a wilting economy which has produced a toxic cocktail for Sweden's property groups.

Credit ratings of several companies, mainly in the commercial property sector, have been cut to "junk" status by rating agencies.

House prices are also down by around one-fifth since their March 2022 peak, reflecting soaring mortgage costs.

Chief Investment Officer Christian Fladeland of Heimstaden Bostad told Reuters that the board was dedicated to defending the balance sheet through actions that include "the evaluation of capital injections and strategic privatisations of the portfolio."

Alecta's CEO Peder Hasslev said, as one of the company's largest owners, it shares the assessment that the company is in need of additional capital.

"We are prepared to participate constructively and contribute to a refinancing, but of course it is entirely dependent on the conditions," he said in an email.

Heimstaden Bostad became the second largest residential property company in 2021 after it bought Swedish, Danish and German property portfolios from Swedish Akelius Residential Property worth 92.5 billion crowns.

Heimstaden Bostad's property portfolio totals 340 billion Swedish crowns ($30.60 billion) and its main owners are Heimstaden and Alecta with 38% of the shares each, according to its website.

Heimstaden Bostad, which is in addition to Alecta and Heimstaden owned by other pension funds such as Folksam and the Swedish Pension Agency, owns properties that it lets out to students, families and others. ($1 = 11.1124 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Marie Mannes, editing by Anna Ringstrom, Terje Solsvik, Elaine Hardcastle)