Finding student housing in one of the country's largest university towns before classes start is difficult, but it's not impossible. We've put together a couple of tips that can bring you closer to finding good student housing.
1. Apply to a dormitory
In general, dormitories are the cheapest form of housing available to students.
Often, you'll share a kitchen and bathroom with others. However, newer dormitories are starting to offer "dormitory flats", or studio apartments, that each have their own kitchen and bathroom.
Many dormitories are administered by a central office, like the Copenhagen Dormitory Office or the Aarhus Dormitory Office. There, you can apply for several dormitories at once.
Other dormitories are associated with particular universities, such as the University Park Dormitories in Aarhus, or the Valkendorf, Regensen, and Borch Dormitories in Copenhagen.
2. Sign up for student housing
Student housing is another available offer. Student housing consists of ordinary flats that are reserved for students and young adults.
Most large cities have a combined portal that lets you apply to several apartments at once. These cities include Odense, which has six cooperating housing organisations, and Kolding.
In other parts of the country, you might need to apply to each housing organization individually. Some cities have chosen to use a rental portal like findbolig.nu to manage their youth housing.
3. Rent a space in senior housing
In Copenhagen, the municipality and a number of housing companies have joined together to rent out unoccupied senior flats for students.
Because the number of elders in the city is falling, many of these flats are empty, and they make for excellent student housing. Most of these buildings are centrally located, and all of them have great kitchen and bathroom facilities.
4. Check the local paper
Especially, if you plan on studying in a smaller town, the local paper can be an effective helper in your hunt for student housing.
There, you can often find housing advertisements from private landlords. If you call soon enough, you're likely to be considered for a property.
5. Use your network
You've seen them in your Facebook feed, no doubt: Those "looking for a place" posts where your friends and acquaintances are looking for "someone who knows someone who wants to rent out a room to a kind, quiet student".
And that's not a bad idea — especially if you've helped to share these posts from your friends in the past. What goes around comes around, as they say. If you're lucky, one of your friends just might have a friend who's looking for a new flatmate.
