On Saturday, November 14, the new student housing Vegalyckan in southern Lund opened for people to move in. The 110 new apartments are small but well equipped, says Henrik Krantz, CEO of AF Bostäder.
Located south of Smålands nation, just behind Studentlyckan, is AF Bostäder’s newest residential area: Vegalyckan.
The area has an original layout. The first floor belongs to Lund Municipality, and functions as both a preschool and an elementary school. On the three upper floors on the other hand, there are 48 studio apartments, 36 two-room friend apartments, and 26 two-room couple apartments, which will all serve as housings for students.
Expensive with high standards
Compared to the adjacent student housings Studentlyckan and Ulrikedal, the rooms on Vegalyckan are fairly small.
The two-room apartments on Studentlyckan are close to 50 square meters, whereas the ones on Vegalyckan are approximately 35 square meters. However, the difference in cost is the opposite – it is more expensive to live at Vegalyckan, despite it being located farther away from the city center.
Henrik Krantz, CEO of AF Bostäder, says that Vegalyckan has other qualities.
“Small apartments are tightly installed and expensive to build, therefore the price per square meter is higher. Studentlyckan was built in the 50s and the standards there are lower than on Vegalyckan. The kitchens at Vegalyckan have, amongst other things, a range hood and the bathrooms have a much higher standard”, he says.
Three and four-room apartments are scrapped
AF Bostäder decided not to build any three or four-room apartments on Vegalyckan, despite the fact that this would keep the cost per housing down.
“Of course, you can build an apartment with five rooms and a bathroom to keep costs down, but the question is if it would create a good living environment”, Henrik Krantz says and continues:
“AF Bostäder has one contract per apartment, which means that the contract holder has a lot more responsibility, while other residents in the apartment have less influence over their living situation. Besides, there are already many larger apartments on Studentlyckan and Ulrikedal”.
Collective in the future?
The housing situation in Lund is pressed and Henrik Krantz says that AF Bostäder are trying to look into all possible new housings. In the future, focus might be on a more collective living.
“We are not building any dorms right now – we already have approximately 3,000 dorm rooms. Despite that we have seen that there is a certain interest in living collectively, especially at the beginning of ones studies. You’re rather lonely as a new student, and living together with others might make building a social network easier”, Henrik Krantz says.
The current new building, which is still in the planning stage, is in the area by the intersection between Tunavägen and Tornavägen. There, a student housing is planned to accommodate roughly 400 students.
Article: Hedvig Wrede
Translation: Elise Petersson
