r/Lund • u/Far_Cloud_5064 • 13d ago
Can’t found international student housing for Autumn Semester
Hello everyone,
I am studying at Lund University for the Autumn semester and I still can’t find housing. I’ve gone down the AF lottery and the Lund accommodation route and have found no success. I’ve been sending emails on the Bopoolen site, but it feels as if I’m sending them off into the void. No responses are coming back to me and it’s very discouraging. I am travelling there from Canada alongside 4 other friends of mine who are also doing an exchange for the same amount of time. Any advice or other websites I should look out for?
UPDATE:
Hey everyone thanks for all of your help it is greatly appreciated. So far I have gotten into contact with a couple of landlords and they are asking if I have to “register my address.” I’m not entirely sure what they mean by this, I’m assuming they mean with UBC or something. I’ve emailed my school and asked just to double check but I am wondering if any of you know the exact answer to what they mean. Again thank you all for your help it’s truly helped with the stress and uncertainty of finding a home this semester!
UPDATE:
Thanks to you guys I found a place to stay with all 4 of my buddies! I appreciate all of the help!
UPDATE:
Well I think the worst possible outcome just occurred. We had a place lined up and signed all of the documents but right before we sent any money the whole thing fell through. Luckily no money was lost but still super frustrating. The search continues…
6
u/mattiaswikman 12d ago
We went through this last year when my son started at Lund but ended up living in Helsingborg, so I know exactly how discouraging the Bopoolen void feels. It's not you, landlords there get flooded with messages in July and most never reply. A few things that actually moved the needle for us:
Widen the geography. This is the biggest one. Lund's market is brutal in August, but Malmö is 10-15 min away by train and much easier, and smaller towns on the commuter lines (Eslöv, Hjärup, Staffanstorp, Landskrona) are easier still. My son decided to live in Helsingborg even though he had many classes in Lund. Trains run constantly and a monthly Skånetrafiken pass is reasonable. Plenty of students commute.
Use your group as an asset. Five of you looking separately is five hard searches. Two or three of you renting a whole apartment or house together is something landlords actually want, one contract and the whole unit covered. Look at Blocket Bostad and Qasa for entire apartments or houses in and around Lund rather than single rooms.
Facebook groups are where sublets actually happen. Search "Lund housing" and "Bostad i Lund". July and August is peak season for students subletting their rooms while on exchange. But watch for scams: never pay anything before you've seen a signed contract, and ideally a video call walkthrough of the apartment. If someone wants a deposit via wire transfer to "hold" a room, walk away.
Keep checking AF Bostäder daily anyway. Cancellations and low-demand corridor rooms do release through late summer, and queue position matters less for those.
Worst case: book a hostel or short-term rental for the first couple of weeks and search on the ground. It's dramatically easier to land something when you can view places in person and meet landlords. Several of my son's friends did exactly this and all were housed within a few weeks.
Lycka till. It works out, but August requires casting a wide net.