Written by Dena
19 May 2015
Housing in Lund is a bit of a nightmare. Stories of people camping in tents during the first month(s) of the autumn semester because they can’t find a place to live in are not too far from the truth, unfortunately.
But do not despair! It is still possible to find accommodation.
Isolation and Denial:
You will want this one to work out so so badly. It comes with modestly furnished rooms/flats, internet is included, etc.
So, the first place to look is Lund University Accommodations. There are various types of accommodation that LUACC provides: corridor rooms, corridor rooms with WC, corridor rooms with WC and shower, twin rooms, studio flats, one bedroom apartments and two bedroom apartments. In Lund, the housing areas are the following: Spoletorp South and North (aka Spoli); Sparta; Margaretavägen; Klostergården; Rönnen. Their locations are all over the city (and the city is the campus, basically), so I’d advise choosing the ones closest to your school.
As Lund University has departments in Malmö and Helsingborg too, you can find accommodation with LUACC there as well.
In this blog post, I will focus on Lund, since that is the accommodation situation I am most familiar with. When applying for LUACC, it’s mostly on a first-come-first-served basis, so applying in time is crucial. However, there is also something called the housing guarantee. The housing guarantee saved me – I was eligible for one. To find out if you’re eligible, please visit this site.
If it doesn’t work out…
Anger:
In case LUACC doesn’t work out for you, there are still options available. You can apply for accommodation through AFB. AFB has a queueing system, so the time of application is crucial. Also, AFB organises lotteries in August where you might just get lucky and get a place to live in (it is a bit risky though).
Bargaining:
In case that doesn’t work either, you can search for apartments/rooms on BoPoolen.nu and Blocket.se. However, when searching through these, please beware of scams! There are a lot of those in Lund, since the accommodation situation is quite horrible.
Depression:
In case none of this works (hej, you gotta be prepared for the worst), you can always look for places in Malmö. You can use Blocket for this search too.
Acceptance:
So, you found a place in Malmö. Rejoice! It’s really ok if you have to commute a bit every day.Yes, Malmö is very close to Lund and by train, it is just a 15-20min ride. By bus is a bit longer, but still very manageable. Also, you can buy a transport card (aka Jojo card) at Skånetrafiken and the monthly unlimited ticket for Lund and Malmö costs 560kr with a student discount. With this, you can use both local buses, regional buses as well as the train.
To give you a taste of the commute Malmö – Lund, check out this scenic timelapse I made on my way back to Lund the other day.
