The housing report 2014 and 2018, a look back over a term of office

Yesterday, SFS's was released housing report for 2018. The second report that I and the SFS office produce together with all student unions. The housing shortage for students is nothing new and the housing report has been released in some form for more than 20 years. The long history and the fact that it is an election year made me think: What has really happened since the last time the housing report was released during the election campaign? Here is a look back and comparison with the housing report 2014 and a little about what happened during the term of office when it comes to student housing.

When we look at the student population as a whole, not much has happened since 2014. The vast majority of students, now and then, study in a city with a housing shortage and insecure housing. The number of red cities has increased during the period, meaning that there are more cities where it takes more than one semester for all students to get a permanent home. This year, we know that seven out of ten campus students start in study places where safe housing cannot be guaranteed for everyone during the autumn term.

What is positive is that the number of green cities has tripled since 2014. Although the vast majority of students still face an imbalance in the housing market, there are municipalities that take their housing sales responsibility seriously and who, together with students, universities and actors in the housing industry, have moved away bristen. There are also examples of cities that have gone from being red-listed to being green during the term of office. Gävle, which became the student city of the year 2018, has shown that it is possible to solve the housing shortage and then also relatively quickly. By building both municipal and private actors at the same time as establishing a collaboration between the municipality, housing companies and students, they have gone from being red to green during the period.

In general, the pace of construction during the period has been relatively high compared to previous years. Around 12000 student housing units were built between 2014 and 2017. The corresponding figure during the four years leading up to 2014 was 2500. There was thus a lot of construction that needed to be resumed at the start of the term, which also meant that the high construction rate did not have a greater impact in our reports. . There is already concern about an impending recession. The unrest itself is already having a negative effect on the pace of construction. Recessions also usually mean that more people choose to study and at the same time the university is currently being expanded. The needs will thus probably increase in the next few years at the same time as the forecasts show a lower construction rate. It therefore requires an active policy so that we do not get stuck in the current situation and that the pace of construction is maintained so that we can finally make up for the large shortfall that arose before 2014.

The election promises described in the preface to 2014 were specifically about more student housing. The moderates promised to create conditions for 20 student housing to be built and the Green Party to co-finance 000 student housing. In this year's election campaign, student housing has not been given much space. The Social Democrats have presented a proposal for reduced building requirements in order to be able to build more homes and from other parties it is relatively quiet. During the term of office, the building requirements for student housing have already been reduced, among other things through increased guideline values ​​for noise levels. It is important that construction picks up speed and rents are kept down, but we cannot solve an insecure housing market with insecure housing. Some construction requirements should be eased but some exist for a reason. Our health and ability to study are affected by how we live and reduced requirements increase the risks of poorer health and studies. A home is also a prerequisite for being able to study, and if the accessibility of the homes deteriorates, the opportunity for everyone to study also deteriorates.

My hope is that the next flashback of one of my successors will be a happier one. There is talk that the housing policy talks between the parliamentary parties will be started again after the election, which gives some hope. There is still a lot to do but recent years have shown that it is possible to build and there are several good examples that we can all take with us into the next term of office how it is built both cheaply and well.