Welcome to a time of desperate hunting, writes Anikó Mészáros, remembering her own experience in the fight to find a roof over her head.
We cannot emphasize this enough: finding housing in Lund is the most stressful part of your stay. If you already have a place to live, please lay back and enjoy the upcoming horror stories. If not, be prepared…
It is going to be crazy. It will look like a summer festival, but instead of a beer in hand people will have big suitcases at Arrival day.
It was like this two years ago when I came to Lund for the first time. I got student housing. It was one of the most expensive dorms, so I thought I would look around for a shared flat in town. That should be cheaper, I thought.
I spent my first days doing so and telling everybody about my plan. Suddenly a lot of new ‘friends’ added me on Facebook, asking me to give them my fixed place in case I find something else.
Of course I could not find anything so I just stayed there and I was very happy with it, especially when I met people in the middle of September still doing couchsurfing.
Last year my room search started in June. That was a tricky one as well. Some landlords ask for the July rent: take it from July (even if you do not need the room then) or leave it. Someone else will ultimately take it.
Then came emergency housing. This was a very nice idea to provide short-term accomodation. However, their capacity is quite finite. You can read about last year’s emergency housing here, here and here. About this year: here. Please don’t consider it as a number one option.
It is probably too late to warn you now. So, what can you do at this point? Even if you are already tired of it, check BoPoolen and other agencies regularly (by that I mean every hour!). Check Malmö: it’s not that far there after all. Even if it is a different city, it is fine, you will not be left out of any parties in Lund if you live in Malmö! There are trains all night long.
It is a good idea to keep an eye on ESN Lund’s Facebook page. I don’t mean writing a desperate message and then waiting for your room. I mean checking the offers that are already there. Keep your eyes open and react fast when somebody writes something hopeful. Other good advice can be found not the university site.
And if all this still does not work, please bring a beer. If only to try and make it look like a summer festival.
