Student residence, shared flat or sublet: how to find housing to study in Stockholm, budgets and the neighbourhoods to look at.
As a student in Stockholm, you have in practice three options: a room or a studio in student housing, a shared flat in an apartment rented on the market, or a home just for yourself, most often as a sublet. The choice depends less on your preferences than on your status: some students are entitled to housing through their university, most have to search on their own, in one of the tightest rental markets in Europe.
The figure that sums up the situation: according to Bostadsförmedlingen, the municipal queue service, the average wait in 2025 was 12.4 years to obtain a first-hand lease in the city of Stockholm. For a study stay, a shared flat and a sublet are therefore the realistic routes, alongside student residences. Here is how to go about it, what it costs and how to avoid the pitfalls.
At the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), students who pay tuition fees for a full bachelor's or master's programme are guaranteed housing through KTH Housing for their first year, subject to conditions. Exchange students can apply, but the number of rooms is limited and nothing is guaranteed. On the other hand, students who don't pay tuition fees, which is the case for citizens of the European Union, the EEA and Switzerland outside special programmes, cannot get housing through KTH Housing. If you are a French student on a full programme, you will therefore be searching on your own. Other universities have their own rules: find out as soon as you are admitted.
The city's student housing is allocated by seniority in a queue. At Stockholms studentbostäder (SSSB), you must be between 17 and 50 years old during the year, your place in the queue is personal and cannot be transferred, and beyond 90 days of seniority you must be an active student and a member of an affiliated student union. According to the Bostadsförmedlingen, the student homes it allocated in 2025 went to people after about 4.5 years in the queue on average. Sign up as soon as possible, even if it will only pay off in the medium term.
Sharing an apartment rented on the market is the most common solution for a student arriving in the city. A concrete example published by KTH in 2026: one student sharing her apartment pays 4,350 kronor (SEK) per month for housing, while another student pays 3,800 SEK for a corridor room and a third pays 8,200 SEK for a KTH Housing home. These are individual cases, not averages, but they give an order of magnitude.
On the second-hand market (andrahandsuthyrning), a studio or one-room apartment rents from about 8,000 SEK per month on the outskirts, and between 10,000 and 15,000 SEK in central neighborhoods. A two-room apartment in the city centre is around 19,000 SEK. A sublease is quick to get, but it is temporary and its rent follows the market.
The SL transport network (metro, tram, bus, ferry) lets you live far from the centre without losing too much time. KTH quotes a monthly student pass at 650 SEK.
Södermalm, cultural and alternative, is very well served. Vasastan, central and residential, and Kungsholmen, quieter and on the waterfront, are also sought after. Östermalm is the most expensive neighborhood. A room in a shared flat is possible there, living alone much less so.
Hammarby Sjöstad, a recent, eco-friendly neighborhood, and Liljeholmen, developing and well connected, offer somewhat more affordable rents without going too far out.
To the north, Solna and Sundbyberg offer reasonable prices and good connections to the centre and the campuses in the north of the city.
These are the neighborhoods with the lowest rents in the region. The trip is longer, but this is often where a room or a small home still fits a student budget.
To rent, and in particular to sublet, prepare:
The personnummer, the identification number issued by the tax authority (Skatteverket), is often requested to finalise housing paperwork. Depending on the length of your studies, you may not be entitled to it right away: plan to apply for it quickly if you are eligible.
The shortage attracts fake listings. Never pay a deposit or rent before you have visited the home, or had someone you trust visit it, and checked the identity of the person renting. Be wary of a rent well below market levels, of a landlord who says they are abroad and can't arrange a viewing, or of a payment requested urgently.
At KTH, KTH Housing contracts for the autumn semester start on 1 August, and exchange students admitted for the autumn apply in May. On the private market, competition is fiercest at the end of summer: start searching at least two months before you arrive.
KTH publishes three monthly budgets for international students for 2026, from 7,850 to 13,000 SEK in total, housing included. Housing is always the biggest item. Also plan for the deposit and the first month's rent on entry.
From France, it is hard to view properties, check that a sublease is authorised and react fast enough against the competition. A Remoters home finder based in Stockholm can search for you for a room or a home suited to your campus and budget, visit, put together your application and review the contract before you sign. The first conversation and the quote are free.
Short answers to the questions our readers ask, written to stand on their own.
Sources cited in this article
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