Minirevolutionen : En konsekvensanalys av ändrade byggregler för utformning av studentbostäder

Today there is a considerable general lack of housing in Sweden, as aconsequence of population growth and economic factors. Meanwhile,the number of students reaches record levels each year and far too fewstudent apartments are being built to meet the demand. The reason forthis is believed to be the limitations set on construction companies asregards residential design and environmental noise. In view of the greatshortage of student housing, the Swedish government commissionedthe Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket)to review the often-contested building regulations. After comprehensivereview, the new regulations came into force in July 2014 with BFS 2014:3(BBR 21). The amendments are intended to allow for smaller residentialarea in general, but also to make possible further easing of therequirements for student housing so as to stimulate the housing market.A student apartment may now be built as small as 16 square meters withall household functions within the dwelling. This is made possible byallowing functions to overlap, in the same room, without sacrificingaccessibility. Furthermore, kitchen areas and storage may be reduced. Itis now also possible for up to three persons to share a washroom andtwelve persons to share a kitchen, along with changes for largerapartments intended for students. This creates opportunities for newtypes of housing for students. Alongside the regulatory changes inresidential design, work has also been going on for more coordinationregarding the handling of environmental noise (including clearerguidelines). These regulatory changes will take effect in January 2015,and are a prerequisite for the realization of the concepts in the case studyof this report. The survey in this report shows that students are receptiveto the new, smaller apartments (as many as 72% can imagine living in a16 square meter home). However, the report reveals a greater skepticismamong students towards sharing a washroom or kitchen with manypeople. The saying ”there is no place like home”, implying a home ofone’s own, thus rings true for students of today. Nonetheless, the casestudy finds that the apartment types involving shared kitchens andbathrooms have the highest surface efficiency, accommodate thegreatest number of people, and have a reduced cost of productionbecause of the shared indoor plumbing. From this it may be concludedthat such types of apartments will be the most attractive for constructioncompanies to build. In other words, students’ preferences run contrary tothose of construction companies. The case study concludes that the greatest barrier for construction companies will be eliminated when smaller student apartments are made possible and cheaper to build.Despite the fact that many students prefer a private apartment, there isenough need to ensure that new student housing (in whatever form) willbe occupied. The combined results of the survey and the case studyshow that the construction of student housing is likely to increase.Validerat; 20141219 (global_studentproject_submitter