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Acute shortage of student housing in Sweden

Thursday, 23 August 2012
A situation that has been described as worse that ever is happening in the Swedish student housing sector. There is intense shortages of student housing such that some expert are question Sweden's readiness for the future if there could be no chance of properly training future leaders.

Only one in ten higher education regions in the country has manages to arrange a student residency within a month, a new report from Swedish National Union of Students has made before the start of the school term next week.

43,000 more college students are expected in the coming ten years, excluding those who read remotely. But only 23,000 more student housing is available. The mathematics is simple and the question is what is going on?

Swedish National Union of Students has identified opportunities to increase residents housing in 30 of university towns. Just Gavle, Härnösand and Karlshamn can guarantee all the students own home within a month. Around two-thirds of the other study regions can guarantee accommodation at any time during the fall semester.
"The housing situation in many locations have become more problematic. It's harder to get a residency within a month," said Erik Pedersen at the Swedish National Union of Students to Swedish television.

Six of study regions can not guarantee housing at all. These are the major cities of Gothenburg, Lund, Malmo, Stockholm, Uppsala and this year also Växjö. In many places, it looks bleak.

"Many people who come to us are surprised that it can be so difficult to get accommodation. Everyone knows that it can be problematic, but that it is possible to look for months and still not get, many find it difficult to understand. This Monday we open our emergency accommodation," says Markus Jonegård, housing manager at Uppsala Student Union to Swedish television.

In Stockholm in particular, it does not look brighter.
Critic are worried that Sweden which in the past has been very good at investing in higher education has started slipping into the doldrums.  At a time when Sweden could be seen as an attractive place to study, such problems are not good advertisement for the country's educational system  which has recently implemented higher fees for international students.

Also with unemployment very high many people, especially the youths who are harder hit are looking to get into higher education. This could be a turn off.
by Scancomark.se Team

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