AF Bostäder’s caretakers have a broad job description with responsibility for everything from ongoing maintenance, repairs and inspections to taking care of outdoor environments. But the most enjoyable – and most important – is the social responsibility. Caretakers at AF Bostäder are to promote social sustainability, help the students settle in and contribute to wellbeing and security in the housing area.

AF Bostäder’s rent-setting stems from a rent model based on the students’ wishes, and the annual rent increase is negotiated with the Swedish Union of Tenants (Hyresgästföreningen). As AF Bostäder is a foundation, the revenue remains entirely within the organisation, where it is used for maintenance and long-term investments.

AF Bostäder is a foundation with a mission to provide housing for students at Lund University. The company is closely connected to student life and the students have considerable influence. The Academic Society appoints board members as well as the students’ own housing ombudsman – “bostadsombudsman” in Swedish and generally referred to as “Bomben”.

In a two-year initiative, AF Bostäder has renovated and renewed the outdoor environment at Ulrikedal. In addition to technical maintenance and improved waste systems, the initiative has given the students secure, well-lit bicycle parking spaces, pleasant areas for socialising where lawns and meadows are interspersed with barbecue areas, boule court, outdoor gym and much more.

AF Bostäder’s Service Centre is at Sparta, directly adjacent to the company’s head office. Students visit the Service Centre to ask all kinds of questions about their housing. The Service Centre also manages procedures for keys in connection with moving.

AF Bostäder has achieved good results in measuring and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases in its own operations and from purchased energy. Now, the focus is intensifying on other indirect emissions. A recent review is to form the basis for reducing emissions from new construction projects and property management.

AF Bostäder constantly looks for solutions to improve the housing experience and the range of services for tenants. Through cooperation with various partners, the company can find good ideas for services that suit the students. It is a customer group with certain specific conditions and interests – they work from home and rarely use a car.

In 2020, AF Bostäder produced a code of conduct that is to ensure that AF Bostäder and the company’s partners have the same sustainability aims. The introduction continued in 2021 with a focus on close dialogue.

When the outdoor environment at Ulrikedal was to be revamped, the students were invited to express their wishes – with fantastic results! Ulrikedal has become a verdant place for games, sport and socialising.

One of AF Bostäder’s prioritised global goals concerns protecting biodiversity and natural living environments. AF Bostäder promotes a great variety of species by means such as confining new construction to areas with already impervious surfaces and laying sedum roofs. Much remains to be done and several new initiatives are under way.

During the pandemic, AF Bostäder adapted operations at the Service Centre in order to increase security for customers and staff. Lessons learned during the pandemic have led to long-term improvements.

At Kämnärsrätten, AF Bostäder is driving one of Sweden’s largest investments in student housing. The plans cover six new quarters, and the company is on a purposeful development journey in which each new construction project becomes more innovative and sustainable than the last. The last quarter is the best by far – and the next will be even better.

Every year about 3 000 students move in to AF Bostäder’s housing, and everyone is to feel that they are moving into good accommodation. Such a high moving rate requires meticulous planning, purposefulness, the right digital tools and a 100% customer relationship, so that everything synchronises smoothly on the move-in day. AF Bostäder’s caretakers coordinate all the aspects.

The students can hand in waste such as batteries, electronic devices, light sources and bulky furniture in the Green Room, which also has the popular recycling shelf where objects disappear just as fast as they are handed in.

An increasing number of students are affected by mental health problems. AF Bostäder has run the Help information project since 2019 to help more people get the right support. The initiatives continued in 2021 with education, lectures and film production, as well as preventive leisure activities, which have rapidly become popular.

Since 2020, AF Bostäder has carried out climate impact calculations for all new construction projects, something that will be required by law from 2022. The aim is to map and reduce the impact of new construction on the climate.

AF Bostäder has a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of corruption. The company has both internal guidelines for business ethics and a code of conduct for staff and partners. A whistleblower function will also be established soon.

At AF Bostäder, the viewing of housing and the renting out process are conducted digitally on the website. To make things easier for students, new and better photos and films will be available to show the housing areas.

Cooking fat that is disposed of in the kitchen sink can cause damage to drains and sewers and attract pests, but if the fat is collected, it can be converted into biofuel. In a pilot project, the students have recycled a total of 700 kilos of cooking fat, and the initiative is now being expanded.

A bicycle is the best way to get around in Lund, and the students would like to fix their bicycles where they live. For that reason, AF Bostäder is opening more bicycle repair rooms.

Most of us know that cigarette butts should not be discarded on the ground or in nature, but even so they tend to end up there. With a newly started nudging project at Delphi, AF Bostäder wants to inspire more people to dispose of their cigarette butts in the correct way, for the benefit of wellbeing and the environment. At the heart of the project is AF Bostäder’s newly engaged staff member: Ash.

As the students’ own housing company, AF Bostäder has a great responsibility to carefully manage the foundation’s funds. In general, the company is restrained regarding sponsorship, but contributes every year to events and activities that are significant for student life.

There is a high demand for housing adapted for students in Lund, but there are many alternatives and most people who are admitted for studies have some form of housing at the start of the semester. AF Bostäder is working in the long term to increase accommodation, and new student housing quarters are taking shape.

During the year, AF Bostäder remotely coordinated several much-appreciated corridor challenges with Easter, summer and autumn themes. The year ended with the traditional gingerbread house competition.

Mental health problems affect more than one in two students. AF Bostäder launched the Help information project to increase knowledge among students and staff and to offer assistance for those affected.

AF Bostäder has improved its plant protection system. Now, weeds are cleared from impervious surfaces using only hot water. The system is efficient, eco-friendly and easy to use.

In the middle of Lundagård is the AF Borgen building – the heart of the AF Family and the epicentre of student life in Lund. The building has now been modernised and renovated and is ready in its revamped form to provide space for the students’ creativity. The renovation was enabled by a unique joining of forces that has engaged the whole of Lund including, of course, AF Bostäder.

AF Bostäder has begun to carry out climate impact calculations for new construction, starting with Hippocampus. The aim is to map emission sources and in time reduce the climate impact of new construction.

The corridor accommodation at Tomegapsgården 15 was renovated during the summer of 2020. The theme throughout was to create a homely atmosphere, and with interior design in a 1950s style the corridor accommodation has been restored to its former glory.

It is becoming increasing common for property owners to divide up the rent invoice into several component parts. Water, heating, electricity, TV, broadband and so on are specified – and measured – separately. Based on the customers’ wishes, AF Bostäder chose to go in the opposite direction.

AF Bostäder’s bulky waste stations have been given a new design to inspire the students to minimise their waste, increase their recycling and find satisfaction in reuse. Say hello to the Green Room!

Studentlyckan, established in 1960, is one of AF Bostäder’s most popular housing areas. The area is pleasant with a park-like courtyard environment and well-known for its facades with tiling in different colours. Studentlyckan was designed by Hans Westman and is in easy walking distance of the centre.

Starting in 2020, all the bathrooms at Delphi will be renovated and the piping replaced. In parallel, the accommodation and corridors will be revamped, and all the rooms will have faster broadband. All the tenants will be moved to housing with newly renovated bathrooms, so that no one has to put up with the renovation work. All corridor friends have the opportunity to move together.

In 2016, AF Bostäder decided to be 100% fossil fuel-free in terms of electricity, heating, transport and equipment by the end of 2020. A minor volume of fossil fuels is still used, but emissions have been reduced by 92%. Over the next five years, the focus will be on indirect emissions – an area in which the company has the greatest possibility to exert an influence.

When cities become denser, green spaces are usually sacrificed to make way for impervious surfaces, which increase the load on the urban runoff network. At Kämnärsrätten, AF Bostäder is doing the opposite. With more green spaces than previously, the area is equipped for future downpours.

The demand for student housing in Lund was unchanged in 2020. Even though many other higher education institutions noted reduced demand for housing during the pandemic, Lund seemed to be unaffected.

Area by area, AF Bostäder is replacing all its waste stations with Underground Waste Systems (UWSs). Initially, it entails a considerable investment, but there are many benefits in the long term. Waste sorting increases, waste management becomes more cost-effective and above all the students get a living environment that is clean, tidy and secure.

In a project lasting several years, AF Bostäder is transforming the old student housing quarter at Kämnärsrätten into a green and long-term sustainable city district. Hippocampus, a varied and pleasant quarter providing space for 233 Lund students, will be completed in 2021. Among other things, the area offers a height record and one of Lund’s highest vantage points.

AF Bostäder is a foundation whose purpose is to offer housing to students who are admitted and active at Lund University and also members of the Studentlund association. Being an “active student” means that the tenant is to study for at least 15 credits per semester in order to keep their accommodation or place in the queue.

In Sweden we are good at waste sorting, but only about 20% of clothing is recycled – something AF Bostäder wants to improve. Between 2015 and 2020, the students have collected 130 tons of textiles in easily accessible containers from Human Bridge.

AF Bostäder’s operations are reliant to a large extent on other companies and contractors – partners. A new Code of Conduct introduced in 2020 will therefore ensure that AF Bostäder and the company’s partners have similar sustainability ambitions. The Code of Conduct is based on cooperation, so that future sustainability procedures are developed and improved – together.

Bikes are a key element in student life and many students want their own bike parking space. In newly-built areas almost everyone has their own space under cover, and now all the other areas are being upgraded.

Most of AF Bostäder’s laundry rooms have automatic detergent dosing, which minimises the risk of using too much detergent. From 2020, all laundry rooms are also fabric conditioner-free, which further reduces the use of chemicals.

To ensure the good quality of indoor air in student housing, AF Bostäder has carried out long-term measurements of radon in all residential properties.

During 2020, AF Bostäder changed older light sources to LEDs on facades and lampposts, and in stairwells at four housing areas. The switch means more efficient lighting, longer lamp lifetime, increased security and an energy saving of 70%.

The students are requesting more spaces for studies, activities and spending time together. For the past two years, AF Bostäder has therefore been setting up more and more get-together spaces. The caretakers are responsible for the design, as they are best placed to know what the students want. The students’ new activity rooms are very popular and more are being planned.

AF Bostäder will continue to develop it property portfolio in order to provide more student housing. Construction under our own management is the right way to go – it generates increased knowledge, better housing and city districts that are sustainable in the long term. AF Bostäder has an ambitious and balanced expansion goal. Going forward, there will be one new construction start per year

AF Bostäder has a goal to become 100% fossil fuel-free by the end of 2020. Challenges remain within the areas of company vehicles and business travel.

In September 2019, the newly built Marathon housing area was inaugurated with its very own race. The Marathon marathon is Lund-style marathon of 42 195 decimetres with a finish line at Athen in the AF Borgen building. The first race was organised in cooperation with LUGI Motion.

In 2019, AF Bostäder renewed its goal for waste management and continued to create simpler waste sorting conditions for the students. The approach involves combining practical and well thought-out measures with encouragement, nudging and inspiration.

StudBO, a conference and forum for all those involved in student housing in Sweden, is held every other year. In October 2019, the co-hosts were MKB and AF Bostäder. Approximately 250 participants from all over Sweden joined politicians, housing experts and inspirational speakers to talk about the significance of student housing for a city.

Every year, AF Bostäder strives to improve its customer satisfaction rating. A common wish from the students is more space for studies, activities and getting together. Now, AF Bostäder is focusing on providing more social spaces. In a collaboration between students and caretakers, nicely furnished spaces are emerging, intended for, among other things, lounge socialising, table tennis and studying.

Striving for a construction site free from environmentally hazardous products, materials and chemicals is a considerable challenge. AF Bostäder uses the Basta and SundaHus services and notes all products in a digital logbook.

AF Bostäder continuously monitors the student housing market in order to maintain a balanced rate of expansion. There are many actors involved and the student housing market is steered by supply, demand and the customers’ wishes. Lund attracts many people with its good housing and one of the world’s best universities. The sense of community in Studentlund – Sweden’s best student life – is equally important.

AF Bostäder is in an expansive phase and building student housing on a large scale every year. The company sets stringent requirements for sustainability in its new production and has introduced its own sustainability manual as support for housing development.

Broadband, heating and water are already included in AF Bostäder’s rents. Including electricity as well is both on the students’ wish list – and advantageous. Now the switch is being made, one area at a time, and Studentlyckan has become the first area where green electricity is included.

AF Bostäder would like to encourage students (and others) to spend time outdoors. Now the company is rebuilding Kämnärsrätten in north Lund and also setting up Campuskilen – an activity thoroughfare with green spaces for exercise, studying and socialising. 

AF Bostäder opened 25 insect hotels in 2019 as a contribution to our natural surroundings and biodiversity. 

Mental health problems are increasing among students. For this reason, AF Bostäder has started an information project called "Help". The aim is to provide both staff and students with more information on mental health and better tools for helping those who are affected.

In 2019, AF Bostäder completed a record number of newly built housing places for students and all are now occupied and ready. Despite the high rate of construction, the focus is on sustainability. Here, students are going to be able to live, work and feel good for many years to come.

AF Bostäder has developed a new rent model based on the customers’ appraisals of their housing. The switch to the new rents began in 2019, after an agreement with the Swedish Union of Tenants (Hyresgästföreningen) and will take several years to complete. Due to a sensitive approach and thorough preparations, the change can be implemented with no hassle for customers.  

AF Bostäder is replacing more and more traditional waste stations with Underground Waste Systems (UWSs). Waste sorting becomes simpler, management more cost-effective and the living environment is cleaner, neater and safer.

AF Bostäder started to certificate its contractors in 2008, in order to give students the calmest possible environment for studying in their homes and better conditions for the contractors.

In 2018, AF Bostäder carried out improvements on the indoor climate at four properties. All regulating valves and thermostatic valves were replaced, and tenants now have a more consistent indoor temperature.

In cooperation with Lund Municipality, AB Bostäder is building Sagoeken – a new quarter in Kämnärsrätten for both schoolchildren and students. The project has been enabled by 3-D property division.

AF Bostäder has a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of corruption. Preventive work is important and therefore new guidelines for business ethics were adopted in January 2018.

An analysis of spot checks in randomly selected housing areas shows that between 70–85% of tenants’ residual waste, mainly food waste, is wrongly thrown away – and could have been recycled.

Most corridors tenants really enjoy corridor life, but new students would prefer to live in apartments – if they had the choice. AF Bostäder is testing new ways to increase the feeling of home on corridors.

After many years of increasing activities in AF Borgen, it is now time for much longed-for and locally financed rebuilding work. AF Bostäder, of course, is involved and one of the financiers.

The outdoor environment at Vildanden has during the past year undergone extensive renovation. According to the customers' wishes, there are now new barbecue areas, new bicycle parking spaces and a boule court.

Lund University has a relatively high proportion of international students. One-fifth of AF Bostäder’s tenants come from other countries and the international students like to live – and thrive – on corridors.

AF Bostäder is playing an increasingly important role as a developer of the city and its built environment, and is in a record-breaking period in terms of ongoing construction projects.

As developers of the built environment, AF Bostäder has a sustainability mission that is out of the ordinary – to inspire our young tenants to make more sustainable choices in life. They are our future.

Everyone is to feel equally welcome at AF Bostäder. The company has a clear position concerning everybody’s equal value and rights, and therefore participates in Lundapride.

For the second year in succession, AF Bostäder reduced its greenhouse gas emissions – down by 89% since 2016. The reduced climate impact is mainly due to switching to renewable district heating and electricity.

AF Bostäder would like to play a part in reducing sedentary time and spreading the joys of exercise. In May 2018, a total of 500 students were invited to take part in the Lundaloppet fun run with AF Bostäder.

AF Bostäder opened two new laundry rooms at Vildanden, where the tenants can wash their clothes using only cold water. The new technology reduces both energy consumption and the spread of chemicals.

Resource usage is an area in which AF Bostäder has considerable possibilities to make a positive impact. The target is that 50 % of total waste is to be sorted.

AF Bostäder has developed a new maintenance plan during 2017 to be used to predict, simulate, cost-calculate and plan forthcoming maintenance. Most important – carrying out the projects with retained customer satisfaction.

AF Bostäder has long been involved in active environmental management. During 2016, we began to widening the perspective further and started to report on the activities in a Sustainability Report.

Studentlyckan is getting new kitchens, a better indoor climate and new facades. Due to good planning and smart solutions, each apartment is renovated in just ten days, with minimum disruption.

In the spring of 2017, AF Bostäder sold the family housing section of the Vildanden housing area, Vildandsvägen 2–32, to Heimstaden Bostads AB.

To get better control of quality and costs in its construction projects, AF Bostäder has ended with traditional procurement. Instead, projects are designed, calculated and implemented with all the stakeholders.

The AF Family and Studentlund offer student life that is unique in Sweden. The strong relationship with student life is a success factor and the sense of commitment is considerable.

Resource usage is an area in which AF Bostäder has considerable possibilities to make a positive impact. Using smart and efficient solutions, AF Bostäder creates good conditions for waste sorting and recycling.

AF Bostäder works intensively to reduce energy consumption. The focus is on properties built before 2009 and the aim is a 15 % reduction in energy consumption among the older properties in the portfolio by 2019.

AF Bostäder is a creator of the built environment and wants to shape long-term sustainable city districts, where students and Lund residents can have a good future.

The rents are set in two stages. The first consideration is that rental income is to cover AF Bostäder’s costs. The second consideration is how the costs are to be divided between the individual properties.

AF Bostäder reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by almost 80 % in the period 2016–2017. A contributing factor is the change to renewable electricity in the properties– an initiative suggested by a proactive tenant.

Newly-built, sustainable housing can vary widely. The basic factors för us are residential density, space efficiency, materials, sharing economies, high energy requirements and bicycle-friendly surroundings.

In the autumn of 2017, ten of AF Bostäder’s corridors and over 50 tenants took part in a social project in cooperation with the pro-inclusion association Föreningen Hållihopp in Lund.

For many of the students, their AF Bostäder apartment is the first home of their own. Feeling secure is crucial for the experience of student housing – and a top priority for AF Bostäder.

AF Bostäder has its own student housing ombudsman, nicknamed “Bomben” in Swedish. The ombudsman is responsible for student influence on housing matters.

Between 2012 and 2017, all balconies and galleries at Ulrikedal were renovated as a part of our maintenance and renewal plan.

In November 2015, AF Bostäder inaugurated Vegalyckan, a result of a cooperation with Lundafastigheter. Here, preschool and elementary school are combined with new housing for up to 172 students.

When AF Bostäder realized that the cartakers spent about 2-3 full-time posts per year to keep track of the waste stations, the information campaign "Do not waste the waste" was born.

AF Bostäder and Bokompakt have been awarded the "Skåne Solar Award 2015" in the "Solar Cells of the Year" class.

If your employees are doing well, then AF Bostäder are doing well! That's why AF Bostäder invests heavily in wellness, happiness and fellowship

What is best for the students is the best for Lund. The students are our client and by continuing to strengthen our relationship with the AF family and Studentlund, we can continue to deliver good products and services.

We continue to optimize energy use in the older property portfolio. That's why we installed our first geothermal plant at Kämnärsrätten - and halved the property's heat consumption.

To be eligible for our housing list, you have to be admitted at Lund University, and study actively (and preferably diligently). The annual study checks release a large number of housing places to active students.

AF Bostäder aims to develop housing for another 1,250 students by 2021. Focus is on new construction and AF Bostäder is becoming increasingly important as a city developer.

In 2014, AF Bostäder received the honor of standing behind the carnival in the role of main sponsor. A pure pleasure for a housing company in the middle of student life.

Since 2005, AF Bostäder has been running the project Clean and Tidy - an ambitious effort to keep the well-being of the tenants in corridor housing at a top level.

At Gylleholm there are 48 1-room apartments housed in Hans Westman's famous fyrklöverhus (lously translated as "four-leaf cloverhouse") from 1966.

We are something of a pioneer regarding housing rentals online and for many years the company’s rental activities and range of services has been close to 100 % digital. In 2015, the website received a welcome boost.

Every year, the tenants change at 3 000 apartments and corridor rooms. Such major and intensive administration requires the market’s best technology in order to offer the students the best possible service.

One important reason why students like to live in AF Bostäder housing is the high-quality IT infrastructure that has been in place for many years. That is why in 2013 we started to offer 1 Gbit per second – at no extra cost!