Student blogs

Now that call-up week has passed and most of your burning questions have been answered, you are probably reading this blog because you are seriously considering coming to Stockholm to start your Master’s in the Fall. If that’s the case, I’m here to help make your housing search a bit easier! It is not widely known that most incoming students of Molecular Techniques in Life Science (MTLS) are actually guaranteed housing through KTH accommodation for at least their first year of studies!

Both international and EU-students are guaranteed a home because the MTLS programme falls under a special category for Joint Master’s degrees (group 2). If I were you, I would take advantage of this first-year guarantee considering that Stockholm is infamously recognized for giving students a hard time when trying to find an apartment on their own.

Considering that applications for KTH accommodation are now open (from May 1st until May 31st), I decided to give you a breakdown of the pros and cons for each of the housing locations. Hope this blog helps you on your search!

Disclaimer: Some of this blog’s insights and pro-tips were provided by classmates that live(d) at said locations.

Malvinas väg

Overall Score: 4/5

Rental cost: 6300 – 7500 SEK per month (depending on sqm)
Type of accommodation: single studio apartments with own bathroom and kitchenette; water, electricity, and internet all included in the rent.
Comfort level: if you like living alone, this is the perfect place! No noise, no noisy housemate(s), no fuss!
Community / Student life: there are some parties at Malvinas but this is usually a spot for people who like to mind their own business haha
Distance to KI, SU, and KTH: 15 mins to KI by bike or bus, 10 mins to SU by walk or metro, and it’s located right on KTH’s campus
Distance to closest supermarket: 7 mins by walk (3 mins by bike) to ICA

Pro-tip: I live at Malvinas, so maybe I’m biased, but I’m someone who prefers to live alone, so this place suits me just fine. If you would like to meet your neighbours, simply join a club at KTH and someone there is likely to be living at Malvinas (that’s how I met most of my neighbours).

Teknikringen

Overall Score: 5/5

Rental cost: 5500 SEK per person per month (for a 2-bedroom apt); there are several other options for apartment types at Teknikrigen, but I just chose this one as an example because it’s the most common.
Type of accommodation: shared 2-bedroom apartment with bathroom and kitchen/living area; water and electricity are included in the rent, but the internet is excluded (10-20 SEK per person per month).
Comfort level: if you want the comfort of living with another human being, and having someone there for you when you get home, this is the place for you! However, you can’t choose who you get paired with, but that’s also part of the fun of this location!
Community / Student life: most MTLS students end up living here, so your neighbours are most likely going to be your classmates. There are plenty of parties and hangouts happening all the time at Teknikringen, as there are many more students and peers living together within close proximity.
Distance to KI, SU, and KTH: 15 mins to KI by bike or bus, 10 mins to SU by walk or metro, and it’s located right on KTH’s campus
Distance to closest supermarket: 10 mins by walk (4 mins by bike) to ICA

Pro-tip: Teknikringen’s location is very central so it’s easy to walk to Stockholm’s downtown (big shopping) area; it is also close to a lot of study and green spaces on campus, so when you need a break from being at home, you can hang out at these other spots (e.g. the Coffice coffee shop, the library, etc.)

Lappis

Overall Score: 3.5/5

Rental cost: 4600 SEK per month
Type of accommodation: single corridor rooms (~19 sqm) with a private bathroom; the kitchen is shared with 10 to 12 other students from the same corridor; water, electricity, and internet are included in the rent.
Comfort level: if you like being at the centre of a student community and getting to know a bunch of people from different backgrounds, Lappis is a great place to live in. But you need to be okay with sharing the kitchen with so many people!
Community / Student life: there are lots of parties and barbecues happening all the time at Lappis. Lappis also has a music room if you want to host jam sessions with your friends!
Distance to KI, SU, and KTH: 20 mins by bike to KI, 5 mins by bike to SU, and 13 mins by bike to KTH (double the time for all locations if taking the metro or bus)
Distance to closest supermarket: 2 min walk to ICA

Pro-tip: buy a bike to commute to and from uni; join the Facebook groups to stay updated on what’s happening in Lappis.

Björksätra

(click link above for more photos of this location)

Overall Score: 2/5

Rental cost: 4,900 SEK per month
Type of accommodation: one-room studio apartments (for 1 person), which include a kitchenette and a bathroom; water, electricity, and internet are included in the rent.
Comfort level: if you like living alone and you want to save on rent, this is the place for you!
Community / Student life: there are some parties happening every week at the beginning of the term in August/September; however, most (if not all) of your programme mates will not live here.
Distance to KI, SU, and KTH: 50 mins by metro or bike to either KI, SU, or KTH.
Distance to closest supermarket: 11 mins by walk (4 mins by bike) to ICA

Pro-tip: this is the last resort option – simply put, it’s just TOO far from every campus and most removed from student life.

To find out more about housing options outside of those provided by KTH, check out Lauren’s blog about all the different ways you can find a place to live in Stockholm and Sakura’s blog about finding accommodation for couples. MTLS’s very own previous digital ambassador, Inés, also wrote about her experience looking for a home on her own back when KTH did not use to offer EU-students guaranteed housing.

Lastly, I hope this blog has helped you in choosing what kind of home meets your needs and expectations. Do not forget to apply for accommodation through KTH by May 31st. Best of luck!

Photo Credits: Ugne Ceplaite (Teknikringen), Marta de Lucas Sanz and Mo Huang (Lappis)