Older Masters student trying to find housing from Canada

Hey Julia, it's almost like a war here to find proper housing. I don't know much about student housing, but at least if you want to find something that is convenient and affordable, you are facing a lot of competition. And hotels here are very expensive. I'd say try to find some temp solution on Facebook, say a month or two of sublet since that's usually the easiest option to get in. Then from there, try your best to find your long term rental.

I'll be away from my own room from June 12 till August 16th, let me know if it's of interest

Hello Zoey,

Feel free to also post an advert in the Housing in Denmark section.

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

@Yoginee I don't particularly want to tell everyone about it yet, I might have friends who would need it. Just thought it could ease this girl's mind a bit

Thanks for sharing Zoey.

It is very much appreciated

all the best

Bhavna

@Zoey ZZZZZ Hey! Yes that is the vibe I'm getting even from this far away. It's really frustrating for me that I'm deemed too old to qualify for a lot of the student housing. It makes it a lot harder for me. Best thing I found so far is the residence The Mark in the suburbs because they said they didn't care about my age.

I don't think it makes sense for me to leave in June because I won't even have my residence permit yet. I can't get anything in terms of private apartments until I have my permit (likely mid July at earliest). I am debating going around that time and staying in a hotel for a few weeks (I don't like AirBnb).  But yes, I'm really worried if I go that route that I will not find anything.

Any other tips?

@Zoey ZZZZZ Do you think you'd sublet for part of that time? I just don't know if me going that early makes sense (I also still have my apartment here to sort out, but I could break that lease potentially.

Hi JuliaMarie42,

It's difficult to find housings in Copenhagen. It's probably the same in Roskilde. The earlier you come, the better it is. From July and some months ahead, it is really tough to find a room. Flats are expensive. The same are hotels.

The University of Copenhagen recommends this hotel/ boarding house, and the price is very reasonable/cheap. I think you cannot find it better.

https://www.livjaegerhotel.dk/mere-om-l … n/?lang=en

If you are interested, contact them immediately.

I won't recommend Facebook as a means to find a housing. The other day I looked for flats, but the first eight ads were all fraudulent. Then I stopped looking there. Instead, look at dba.dk and concentrate on the ads which are NemId-validated. A fraudster will never register with his NemId

https://www.dba.dk/boliger/lejebolig/va … iswildcard

The housing market is a paradise for fraudsters. Especially, be on guard if the ad is written in English.

If you need more help, you are welcome back with information about the place of study as KU has many addresses, your budget, the limit of commute time etc. You are also welcome to send the information in a pm if you prefer that.

/Nellie

Hi Nellie,

Thanks for the advice! It's so hard because I won't get my student residency earlier than Mid-July the university only just gave me the required paperwork. I heard that I would need that to get any apartment (to prove I'm allowed to be there). Is that true?

I thought about going in June to look for housing then come back to Canada, but that's even more money for me and I won't have my permit yet.

I hadn't seen that boarding house, thanks I'll check it out! I can't even find rent cheaper than that for the most part (student housing is cheaper but I'm cut off from a lot of it).

And yes, I read a lot about the scams. I'm a paranoid person in general, so I researched all of that and it sounds awful. I don't want to find anything on FB, may a collective if it worked out but those sound hard to get into.

Good to know regarding DBA! I looked at that site, but I wasn't sure how it worked so I'll look for the NemID.

For me, I don't really want to go more than 10,000 dkk a month as that's already more than I would ever dream of paying anywhere (but I'll go into savings and do what I have to do if I have to for better housing). I am giving up on finding something affordable I mostly want something close to a metro with a good neighborhood and a solid building (no rats, pests, ect.). I want to set the limit of the commute to 1 hour (seems doable to Roskilde for the most part).

I was looking at Roskilde too, but to be honest there isn't much and it isn't even any cheaper for the most part.

Cheers!

Julia

Hi again,

I found this ad on the dba which linked to

https://www.heimstaden.dk/lejebolig/tag … benhavn-n/

If a seller uses dba, he can choose to be NemId validated, that means that he has identified himself with his CPR number, address and phone number.

dba.dk

Choose Boliger

København og omegn will emerge

Choose the desired area

If you scroll down the page, you'll find NemId as the penultimate option

http://boligikbh.dk/gratis-lejeboligsider/

No reason to live in Roskilde if you aren't going to study there. Roskilde is a lovely town, but why choose to have a daily expensive (time/money) if you haven't to.

/Nellie

@Nellie Berg I'm at RUC! That's why I'm looking at Roskilde (and makes it even more complicated haha). I'm looking pretty seriously at the place you gave me that provides food - with all this stress I don't think I can actually even handle or realistically get an apartment (I know for sure now I won't have the permit in time realistically). I can't seem to find many "apartment hotels" in Roskilde.

Ir I were you, I would concentrate on Roskilde.

https://ruc.dk/en/accommodation-exchange-students

https://kbh-kollegier.dk/spot/maneparken/ (you have to be under 35 years at the time you sign up for an accommodation)

Public transport isn't cheap. A travelcard from Copenhagen to Trekroner costs 1,200 kroner per month.

/Nellie

@Nellie Berg I think I'd be travelling often to CPH or at least every weekend. So I think I'll spend money on transit either way. But yes, that's one approach for sure. It was weird because the housing body I emailed seemed convinced I didn't qualify. It's very confusing because there's many organizations and buildings involved all with separate rules. I wish there was a service provided by the university to help with this because it's a bit mind boggling.

It would indeed be wonderful if there was a central housing agency, but I am afraid that it would be too costly,at the same time as the universities are sacking their scientific staff due to saving requirements.

It would also be wonderful if you could always rely on the answers you get from people in charge. My experience is that it is a good idea to get to know matters yourself.

Have you got help enough? Do feel free to ask us at every time, and please tell us the 'ending of the story.

/Nellie

@Nellie Berg Ooof! I guess austerity is hitting hard and that's how tax dollars are stretched. It's definitely distributed across many websites/channels. Yes, I'll let you know. I have a few options in my mind and next I just have to figure out what is most important to me. Thanks so much for your advice!