According to the latest figures with Boplats the semi-government housing agency, there are 225,000 people in the queue for a long-term housing in Gothenburg aka Göteborg.
An official told www.gothenburg-400.com that as of today the waiting time for a person registered on Boplats, the waiting time is 2000 days. It means, a person registered today for a house (a flat to one’s requirement in an apartment) has to wait for 2000 days, or if someone registered and paying the yearly fee of SEK 100 in 2016 June, has to wait for about 1300 days to get a flat allocated in his or her name. The official told that this can vary in the weeks and months to come because some people can cancel their registration or drop off from the queue by moving elsewhere within Sweden or overseas, and vice versa.
Housing is one of the biggest challenges not only for the local government – Göteborgs Stad – but also those who come to Gothenburg for employment or studies or to explore opportunities in their respective careers.
Gothenburg is Sweden’s second largest city on the west coast, and the largest port in Scandinavia apart from being the headquarters of Volvo, SKF among others. It is popular for Swedes in south, west and central parts of the country to migrate, and also a popular destination for students. Gothenburg has two universities – Göteborgs Universitet and Chalmers University of Technology. Together, these universities have about 50,000 students coming not only from Sweden and EU but also from as far as China and Chile and India and most of them pay their tuition fees in addition to their living costs.
The issue with scholars and students who have completed their studies or academic programmes and have been absorbed into the industry is in finding accommodation. However, one can always bypass the queue by buying a house (flat, or independent or terrace house – semi-detached house) or renting out an apartment through a real estate agent but the rent is far above than the housing provided by Boplats. In the words of a house hunter, the rents are ‘obnoxiously painful’.
