Hoppa till huvudinnehåll

Tips for finding housing plus information on banks

– Publicerad den 10 August 2011

Students looking for housing before the start of the autumn semester are encouraged to read through the information provided in their Pre-Arrival Guide. The following tips offer additional help with finding your own accommodation, including information being discussed on our Facebook page.

We strongly recommend students make accommodation arrangements before they arrive in Lund. Late August is a very busy time with a huge demand for accommodation as all students arrive in Lund to start the semester. Remember that you can always change to something else later on, but it is strongly recommended that you organise your accommodation before arriving in Lund.

Advertise and search on BoPoolen

BoPoolen (The Housing Pool) is the accommodation advertising agency run by the University Student Unions and is the main website for students looking for accommodation. Note that no queuing system applies for this website. BoPoolen also works hard to identify and prevent fraudsters from advertising on this website. BoPoolen recommends that you only pay one month of rent in advance, which is standard in Sweden. Make sure you get a receipt for all payments made.

Accommodation at the Nations

The Nations are the large student social clubs at Lund University, some of which also have accommodation available for students. Check the nation websites for information (not all nations have websites in English). You can find the links to the nations on this Lund University webpage.

Accommodation agencies

Check the websites and make contact with accommodation agencies in the district. Refer to the links on this Lund University webpage.

Other accommodation websites

Also refer to the list of links provided on this Swedish student housing page, in the right-hand side box. Many of the links are only to Swedish websites, but some do have English information or an English translation option - it is worth checking everything out to be sure!

Blocket.se

If you are up for a Swedish language/translating challenge, also try checking Blocket.se – it is a buy/sell type of website where people can post their advertisements, including accommodation ("bostad") with apartments ("lägenheter") to rent ("uthyres") - here is the link to the Lund apartments to rent result page but also remember to search other nearby locations, outside of Lund. Some advertisements are in English.

AF Bostäder (Academic Society's accommodation)

AF Bostäder is an accommodation website run by the student association: the Academic Society (“Akademiska Föreningen”).  You can register for accommodation available from AF Bostäder through their website: AF Bostäder website. However please note that this is a lengthy queue system and can often take over a year to move to the top. ("Novisch (new) at Lund"  was a one-off lottery from AF Bostäder open to all new students to enter. You could only register between 14 July – 17 July 2011 for a chance to get a much better queue ticket and therefore an early time slot to apply for the AF Bostäder accommodation reserved only for new students starting at Lund University. The lottery draw date was 18 July.)

Short-term accommodation

To arrange short-term accommodation so you at least have somewhere to stay when you first arrive, consider the following options:

Look outside of Lund

There is good public transport around the region, so it is a good idea to also search for accommodation in places close to Lund, including the following. Remember that you can always change later on in the semester, but it is important to have somewhere for when you first start your studies.

  • Malmö (the third largest city in Sweden and a 10 minute train commute to Lund).
  • Burlöv, Åkarp, Hjärup – smaller municipalities located on the Malmö-Lund train line (all within 10 minutes train to Malmö)
  • Lomma – smaller municipality, 20 minute bus ride to Lund
  • Staffanstorp – smaller municipality, 20 minute bus ride to Lund
  • Landskrona – 15-20 minute train to Lund

Public transport (train, bus)

  • Public transport is provided by “Skånetrafiken” and students can get a “student jo-jo card”, which gives you 30% of the regular journey prices.
  • As an example, the cost to commute between Malmö and Lund is SEK 485 per month with the student jo-jo card – this gives you as many journeys as you like within the month, including not only train, but also on the bus system in both cities and in between.
  • To find out transportation costs from the other locations, check the Skånetrafiken website. If you can’t find what you are looking for, you can try asking Skåne Trafiken questions through their "chat" function. The links are in Swedish, but you can write your question in English. Click on the top link in the main body of text ("Nar går..."), then a new window opens, click "chat" and then click "Trafikupplysning" and you enter your name and start your question. Their opening hours for live chat are Sweden time Mon-Fri 0600-2200, Sat&Sun 0800-2200.

Remember!

Please be aware of fraud and fraudsters. From time to time fraudsters contact people who have advertised that they are looking for housing. Don’t send any money if you are not sure that the apartment exists and that you will get access to it. Make sure you get a receipt for all payments you make. Do not send any money through Western Union to these people. Please also read the full page of detailed information on this issue, including names, emails and scenarios given by fraudsters, that are known to BoPoolen.

Information on banks

The following bank information sheet provides a good overview of the banks in Sweden with which you can open a bank account (either with or without a Swedish personal number). The information sheet also explains what the banks require you to bring with you in order to open up an account.  

Good luck and we look forward to welcoming you to Lund University soon!

Follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lunduniversity