Facts: The housing report
Green marking: Students can get safe accommodation within a month.
Yellow marking: Students can get accommodation within one semester.
Red mark: It takes longer than a semester for students to find accommodation.
Changes between 2022 and 2023:
Gävle, Falun, Helsingborg and Trollhättan have gone from green to yellow markings
Umeå has gone from yellow to red marking
Karlskrona has gone from red to yellow marking
Skellefteå and Eskilstuna have gone from yellow to green marking
Percentage of students divided by color marking:
16 percent of all students live in a green-marked city
16 percent live in a yellow-marked city
68 percent live in a red-marked city
Source: SFS housing report 2023
The housing situation is worsening for students as a result of the last year’s rent increases, according to SFS’s latest housing report.
Every year, the student organization maps the housing situation for students in 34 study locations, based on criteria such as rent level and how quickly the student can get access to housing.
Changed color
This year, five locations have performed a worse result than last year. Partly Umeå which has gone from yellow to red marking (it takes longer than a semester for students to find accommodation) and partly Gävle, Falun, Helsingborg and Trollhättan which have all gone from being marked green (students can find safe accommodation within a month) , to those marked yellow (students can get accommodation within a semester).
The reason for the changes in the four latter cases is that the rent increases are higher than what SFS considers to be reasonable.
According to the housing report, the average rent increase in the country’s study areas has been 4.3 percent in 2023, which SFS considers to be unusually high. The average rent increase for all tenements the year before landed at 1.7 percent, according to Statistics Norway.
Risking reputation
“We are facing a housing crisis that risks not only the students’ finances and study results, but also Sweden’s reputation as a prominent nation of knowledge. A knowledge society is based on accessible education and for that it is necessary that students have the means and opportunity to live safely,” says Jacob Färnert, chairman for SFS in a press release.
Currently, there are roughly 400,000 students and around 100,000 student housing according to figures from the University Chancellor’s Office and the Housing Authority.
Preliminary statistics from Statistics Norway show that 57 percent fewer apartments began to be built in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year.
“Politics cannot afford to continue with today’s passive line, because the alternative is much more expensive. The government must stimulate construction through investments, otherwise the situation will only get worse,” says Jacob Färnert.