More student housing, but high rents still leave many without a place to live

Autumn means the start of the semester for the country's students. A joyful time for most, but the feeling of anticipation can also be mixed with stress over not having a place to live.

Every year, the Swedish National Union of Students (SFS) compiles an overview of student housing availability in Sweden, and this year's report shows that the number of homes has increased. Among other things, it has become easier to find housing in the classic student cities of Uppsala and Lund.

This is mainly due to investments in large construction projects that have increased the availability of housing, says Hampus Haugland, chairman of SFS.

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Rents are an obstacle

For the majority of the country's students, there is still a high risk of being homeless when the semester starts. In several of the study locations reviewed, there is too little student housing and high rents put many off.

This is proof that the study funds are not enough. Students spend more of their income on housing than other groups do, says Hampus Haugland.

The big cities stand out

Nine of the 34 locations surveyed received the highest rating. These include Sundsvall, Borlänge and Kalmar, where students can find housing within a month.

It is most difficult to find housing in the big cities. In Stockholm, the average waiting time for a student apartment is 4.7 years, and in Gothenburg, only just over 2,000 of the 7,000 promised student housing units have been built in the last decade.

Ultimately, it's about skills supply. If we are to be able to attract talented students to our universities, the right to housing should not stand in the way, says Hampus Haugland.

Green cities. Can offer a student safe housing within a month:

Borlänge, Eskilstuna, Falun, Kalmar, Karlstad, Kristianstad, Sundsvall, Västerås, Växjö

Yellow cities. Can offer students accommodation with a first-hand contract that is valid for the entire study period at some point during the fall semester:

Arvika, Borås, Gävle, Halmstad, Helsingborg, Jönköping, Karlskrona, Linköping, Luleå, Lund, Malmö, Norrköping, Piteå, Skellefteå, Skövde, Trollhättan, Umeå, Uppsala, Örebro, Östersund

Red cities. Cannot offer students accommodation during the fall semester:

Alnarp, Gothenburg, Kiruna, Stockholm, Visby