Student housing in Lund: residences, rooms and budget

Finding student housing in Lund needs to be prepared several months ahead. Unless you have a housing guarantee, it is up to you to find somewhere to live, and Lund University recommends sorting this out before you arrive: many students search at the same time, at the start of each semester.

There are four routes: LU Accommodation, the university's housing service, reserved for certain international students; AF Bostäder, the city's main student landlord; the housing of the student nations; and the private market, with rooms, shared flats and studios. The university advises applying to several of these at once.

On budget, the university estimates a student's housing cost at between 4,000 and 8,000 Swedish kronor (SEK) per month. Here is how each route works, what it costs and the timeline to follow.

LU Accommodation and the housing guarantee

LU Accommodation manages a limited number of rooms and apartments in Lund and Helsingborg. Only students with a housing guarantee are sure to get an offer. It generally covers:

• students from outside the European Union and the EEA who pay tuition fees and are admitted full time for at least 30 ECTS credits;
• students who came with a Linnaeus-Palme scholarship;
• University of California students under the bilateral exchange agreement.

Exchange students and those coming under an agreement between universities (double degree, joint programme) can also apply, without a guarantee. However, LU Accommodation does not take European Union students who are neither on exchange nor covered by a specific agreement. If you are French and enrolled directly in a degree, count on the other routes.

Even with a guarantee, you must submit an application following LU Accommodation's instructions, and the type of room or neighborhood requested is not assured. The most common housing there is the corridor room, with a shared kitchen and laundry room.

The other routes: AF Bostäder, BoPoolen and the nations

AF Bostäder

AF Bostäder is the housing company for Lund's students. The university presents it as the city's largest provider of student housing, with about 6,000 rooms and apartments; AF Bostäder itself says it houses around 8,000 students. To apply, you must be a member of the student organisation Studentlund, which opens memberships to new students in early July. Newcomers (novischer) enter a lottery before the start of the semester; for spring 2027, the queue for new students opens on 9 December.

BoPoolen

BoPoolen is the housing site run by the university's student unions. It publishes offers and links to other landlords, including for short-term accommodation while you wait for something better. Many of these sites are in Swedish, but landlords generally reply in English by phone or email.

The student nations

The nations, student associations specific to Lund, offer housing, mostly to their members. Each has its own site and its own allocation rules: ask early at the one you plan to join.

The private market

On the private market, rents depend on size and location. As a guide, a room in a shared flat rents from 4,000 SEK per month, a studio or one-room apartment between 6,000 and 9,000 SEK, and a two-room apartment between 9,000 and 14,000 SEK. The deposit can be as much as three months' rent. The centre (Centrum) is the most expensive; Klostergården, Norra Fäladen or Linero offer more moderate rents.

Lund University has no single campus: its buildings are spread across the city, and getting around is easy on foot, by bike or by bus. It also encourages searching around Lund, in Malmö, Eslöv, Kävlinge, Åkarp, Staffanstorp, Landskrona or Helsingborg, linked by train and bus.