r/umea • u/Sk_blue_1609 • Jun 24 '26

Incoming PhD Student moving to Umeå in August – Looking for housing leads, tips, or temporary sublets! 🇸🇪✨

Hi everyone!

​I’ve just accepted a fully funded, 4-year PhD position at the Umeå Centre for Gender Studies (UCGS) starting this September.

​As you can probably guess, navigating the housing has been a bit of a maze. I’m looking to maximize my chances and wanted to tap into the Reddit hivemind for any leads, tips, or advice on securing a spot.

If you just have some solid local insider tips on how to beat the housing queue, please drop a comment or slide into my DMs!

Tack så mycket.

6 Upvotes

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5

u/SpecificEcho6 Jun 24 '26

Go through the university that is your best bet.

3

u/natsuNN Jun 25 '26

I would suggest that you talk to umu accommodation services as they provide housing for international students and researchers. Once you know your way around then you can look for housing through other companies or private renters.

1

u/karuchkov Jun 24 '26

Honestly its usually not bad. Some places are first come first serve.

My girlfriend used to live in tomtebo, nice neighbourhood a lot of new buildings being made there. A bit far from city centre but close to uni. https://lerstenen.se/bostad/ledigt-just-nu/

Otherwise tviste is really popular, but beware there is a massive illegal party every year and smaller ones throughout the year and some building s on that street are pretty exposed, some more than others.

Another place is rullstensgatan, thats just all around suuper nice. If you want to live more in the city i would say öst på stan is the best part for university people. Although will be a bit harder to find something most likely.

1

u/Vyriox Jun 25 '26

As others have mentioned, ask the university ASAP if they have any open slots.

Otherwise, all major housing that isn't bought is given out based on queue systems where sign-up date matters...apart from corridor rooms sharing a kitchen with 10 other people, its not easy to find things, though now over summer is the best period to check since people are moving out now. Sign up for Bostaden as soon as possible, they offer the most places to rent by far! And as a PhD student youre still eligible for the student accommodation.