Student blogs

This is another chapter of the Housing Series blog: Private housing edition. If you are an EU student, like me, you will not be eligble for KI housing. But fortunately there are few other options where you can get studio or corridoor rooms from like SSB, SBS and other private agencies. You can also sublet a furnished apartment or room Qasa and Facebook market groups. Different private agencies are convenient if you have a Swedish personal number, so if you are currently moving out from a short term apartment or room, and you have your Swedish personal number, this blog is for you. I got my apartment through a private agency called Byggvesta, here I will tell you my about the process and my experience living in Kista.

Application process

For applying through private agencies you need to have a Swedish personal number and Bank ID. With that being said if you are moving to Sweden for the first time you might get these later, as the process can be long. But for the ones that have a personal number and Bank ID, the application process is quite stragiht forward! In my case the queuing time was not that long, I managed to get my student apartment within 4 months. Just to note that some private agencies have student apartments but not all!

Accommodation

I live in a small two bedroom apartment (28 sqm). My rent is SEK 8900 only incl. heating. This is on the pricier side since it is from a private agency.

The building also has a student lounge where you can study or just hang out, with a cafe to get some fika. It is really convenient on days when you have don’t have classes and you need a place to study.

Location

Even though Kista is located outside of the city area, the loction is very convenient! I have the blue line that takes me to T centralen in 20 minutes and 15 minutes to Fridhemsplan, where I can either take a bus to the Solna campus or take the green line to St Eriksplan where I cn also catch busses or walk for 10minutes. Altogether my commute to campus is around 30 minutes, which is quite reasonable living in Stockholm. I also like that there is a big shopping mall 8 minutes walking distance away from my apartment with two grocery stores and plenty of other shops. Around Kista they have many cheaper ethnic stores where you can get good deals as well! Furthermore, I like being closer to nature, and there is a large trail where you can go for a walk or run the nature. I have lived here for almost 2 years and have felt very safe walking around the neighbourhood. There are lot of other students from KTH and SU that live around here, so it is a very lively area.

Summary of private housing options

Overall private housing option might not be convenient for someone who is moving to Sweden for the first time, but it is a great option after you have gone through the process of getting your BankID sorted out. What I do like about these options is that they are ususally first hand contracts, so you can usually live throughout your studies, and not stress about moving out after some months. There are multiple different agencies with different conditions so it’s good to check them all out and compare what would be best for you. Private housings are in most cases unfurnished so it is important to consider that you would need to buy all your furnitures, and might not consider it worth the hassle if you don’t plan to live longer than 2 years. However this blog is to shed light on other options that exists outside of SSSB, KI housing and second hand apartments 🙂