40 housing units built in 26 days with a monthly rent of roughly 4,500 SEK a piece. That is the University’s latest housing acquisition.
The 40 new apartments belonging to the University are located on Ole Römer‘s street next to the Department of Economics and they are built in a slightly different way.
This is a case of 40 steel structures built in Hongkong and then transported to Lund. In Lund they have been stacked on top of each other and been equipped with facades, balconies, doors, windows and more. The construction in Lund has taken 26 days.
“This is a Christmas gift for the students”, said Vice-Chancellor Per Eriksson in the short inauguration speech. After that he cut the ribbon and silver confetti whirled through the air.
International students and guest speakers are the primary target group for these apartments. Initially, this area will be a construction site. Four identical buildings equaling 200 new apartments will be built over the next couple of months.
The rent for the 23 square meter apartments comes down to 4,500 SEK. even thought Vice-Chancellor Per Eriksson admits that the rents are too high, Sara van Lunteren, Head of Department at LU Accommodation, points out that the rent is a reasonable price for most of the international students.
“If they can afford an expensive education, they can usually afford this kind of rent as well. They also get scholarships which partially cover the rent”, she says.
And the fact that the apartments were built on a temporary building permit has made the apartments even more expensive.
“Maybe the rents would have been 20 percent cheaper if the permit expired after 25 years instead of 10 years”, says Jan Severa, CEO at Prime Living, the company which owns the apartments.
Text: Erik Ottosson
Translation: Maximilian Aleman Tennell
