There could soon be more miniature houses built in Lund. Unless the Swedish National Board of Housing, Boverket, are allowed their appeal to the Supreme court, AF Bostäder is starting construction in summer 2013 at the latest.
Soon compact living Madeleine Forsberg may have a few neighbors in the parking lot by Kämnärsvägen. Her trial residence of 8,8 square meters does not comply with Boverkets guidelines, but now that the Land and Environment Court of Appeal have agreed with AF Bostäder, it looks like there might be a few more of them built soon.
At least if you ask Johan Olsson, Housing Ombudsman at AF Bostäder (AFB).
– We presume that Boverket will file an appeal, but even in that case there has to be adjudication before the case is tried in the Supreme Court, so AFB has a positive outlook at the moment.
What happens next?
– We begin to plan for an additional 22 compact residences, that hopefully can begin construction in spring or summer 2013, says Johan Olsson.
Does your opinion on the case as Housing Ombudsman differ in any way from the official AFB line?
– No, even if I don’t think this type of housing is for everyone, I believe there’s a demand for all types of living quarters, says Johan Olsson and continues:
– We usually refer to the mini houses as career accommodation, as we believe them to be good entry-level residences.
Johan Olsson believes that compact living is better than having no place to stay at all during the scramble for lodgings among students that usually occur at the beginning of each semester.
AFB is looking to do a scientific inquiry with their housing project into how the resident students feel about living in the 22 miniature houses.
On the other side of the case, which has been ongoing since June 2011, there’s Boverket, who cite law requirements of accessibility for new housing projects. They also believe that the question of accessibility standards should be settled at a political level, not through dispensation.
Boverket has until December 12 to file appeals to the supreme court.
Translation: Jesper Lodin
