Andrei Neculau

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Accommodation

What you need to know about housing in Sweden relates to one word - hard.

Some years ago there was a crisis related to that because there were simply not enough places for the number of students in each university area. Because of that crisis, several real-estate developers started to build in that direction, so now, in some areas there are actually more places than needed. Even so, prepare yourself to fight for getting accommodation.

First of all, you must be aware of the fact that universities in general do not offer accommodation and, even if they do, they may not cover every student. So with a few exceptions, getting a place is your responsibility, and nobody else’s.

Secondly, universities do not own dorms. Different agencies/foundations deal with a number of campuses of dorms in each city in terms of managing them physically and managing the process of finding tenants. In the same dorms you can find people from all the universities of the city. All of them work on a queuing system: the longer you are a member of their system, the more credits you have and the more credits you have, the more chances you have to get the place you want. When a place becomes available, it is “auctioned” if you will. Members who want the plaace put themselves on a waiting list for that place, and the member with the highest number of credits gets the place.

That being said, you should know also learn that prices vary from around 2000SEK to 4500SEK, depending on the room’s surface, location of the dorms, facilities included, etc. The place can be a one room flat + bathroom, and with a shared kitchen on the corridor, or a studio (one room flat + bathroom + kitchen), or a two rooms flat, which is usually destined for couples and such. Rooms can be with one, two or three beds.

Most of these agecies allow you to register without a Swedish personnummer, and thus allow you to register and gain credits before you were even admitted. If you’re reading this before sending the application or at least before getting admitted, it’s a smart move to do so for the cities hosting the top universities on your priority list. That way, no matter where you get admitted, you will have a head start when it comes to auctions and credits.

Some of them, on the other hand, will tell you that even if you registered beforehand, your credits will be null if, at the moment when you registered, you weren’t admitted. That’s why it is good to check on your own with each agency.

You can search on Google for “<city> studentbostader” or “bo i <city>” for each city where you have a university. Bostader is Swedish for place to live.

Or you can just head to http://www.sokstudentbostad.se/ , which hosts a list of all the student housing agencies, by region.

Some websites might have an English version, some don’t. Try to use Google Translator for those who don’t, and be patient and calm when trying to understand translations ;).

You can also try going to places like http://www.studentlya.nu/ or http://se.easyroommate.com . Both of them are a marketplace for student housing.

If the dorms are not for you, or if you’re having problems finding a place there, you can also try to rent a room in a Swede’s house. But be careful! There are plenty of fake ads out there. But you can check if a person really exists, and lives at the respective address by contacting Swedish folkbokföringen (national registration) at Skatterverket (tax authorities). Each region has one, and you can E-mail them by using their contact addresses, or call them at their international number at +46 8 764 79 87.

I was also looking into the option of getting a big place and then sub-renting each room/bed. In the end, I personally found it disturbing that you cannot do that - it’s connected to your national registration and other beauracracy issues.

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