Living in Lund: Ulrikedal

N.B: This entry is a part of a series of student accommodation reviews directed at new students looking for apartments in Lund. Lund(on) Times is not affiliated with AF Bostäder, LU Accommodation or any other apartment rental service. More visual material may be added in the future. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Pros	Cons
+ Affordable, places open up fast (~3,100SEK per month)	- Shared showers & kitchens
+ Close to town, nations (location on map)	- Far from larger supermarkets
+ Green area & parks close by; smaller corridors, less crowded	- More secluded atmosphere, not as social as other corridors
+ Study room in the basement	- Windows facing awkward directions

Click here for AFB's information on Ulrikedal

Ulrikedal is the largest accommodation complex in the southern Lund AFB cluster. Looking a lot like Vildanden or Delphi, it features mostly corridors with a few apartments sprinkled here and there. There is more variation among these corridors though, as long time resident Linnea reports. She used to live in the area for a year before moving out for her second year, but circumstances had her return for her final year of her bachelor's degree.

Figure 46. Linnea's room is well light if nothing else. It is also one of her favorite features of the room.

"I really don’t know why I actually picked this one, because it didn’t have any furniture, it was really spontaneous," Linnea curses her impulsiveness. "My queue position was bad. I do not know how long I will be spending in Lund now. At least I didn’t have to buy any new kitchen stuff.”

Her previous Ulrikedal corridor boasted 13 residents. The current one is a mere six people, most of them older students focused on their studies. Apparently this corridor stays cleaner for that reason too.

Figure 47. The exact amount of square meters was unavailable. An educated guess would put the room at around 19 though.

“I think you have to be really lucky, some corridors feel like a family," Linnea says about corridor life in general. "Everyone knows each other, someone was always in the kitchen, it might be dirtier but its fun. Its nice if you don’t wanna be lonely, it’s a good way to start out in Lund.”

As Linnea is planning to move out of Lund, her space requierments are not that particular. Yet, she feels her room looks like her own and is happy for what she has done

"It is spacious enough. The interior works well, I would decorate more if I had more money too. However its not all perfect. The windows are creepy, you can see into your neighbors apartments and kitchens. Then there is the staircase right opposite me, a lot of people come and potentially see into my room.”

Figure 48. The creepy windows.

Certainly this is one of a handful of places where this can occur, but seeing as the AFB lottery does not have a separate choice for creepy windows, this is a bit discouraging. What about the communal spaces then?

“The kitchen is big enough for everyone. However we only have one stove and sink, so it is very hard even if there is more than one person in the kitchen at once," Linnea explains the slight inconveniences of the corridor. "We have a tv space there too, but no one is ever there really. It’s a bit boring. People seem to come for the 6 person corridors for a bit more peace and quiet maybe. We have a mix of people here too, one international student and some masters students too”

Figure 49. Like Parentesen, you only get your own bathroom in most Ulrikedal corridor rooms

Being in southern Lund, there are the few smaller grocery stores from the more expensive end of the spectrum nearby. Services are hard to come by, and the campus is far away. Still, the social atmosphere seems to be on point, for both an active student life and a more study oriented one. The price is not bad either, so if corridors are your way to go, Ulrikedal is certainly a place to consider. Even if the far superior Parentesen is right around the corner...