Frequently asked questions: Apply for student housing

Mon 19 Feb
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Find answers to your questions about the application, the waiting list, contract ++

Applying for student housing

Frequently asked questions about the application and waiting list.

Apply as early as possible!

There is no deadline for applying, but we recommend that you apply for accommodation as soon you have applied for admission at an educational institution associated with SSN: the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), the Norwegian Police University College in Stavern, Fagskolen in Viken (Kongsberg), Fagskolen in Vestfold and Telemark or Folkeuniversitetet avd. Sandefjord. This is in order to enter the waiting list as early as possible.

This is how you apply for student housing.

Applications are processed continuously

Applications sent during term will be processed as they come in, and accommodation units that have been vacated will be offered to others as soon as they are ready.

In August, we normally do not have any vacant units, but throughout the months of June and July, many residents move out. If you apply for housing and enter a date for moving in during one of these months, you are more likely to receive your preferred unit.

If you are already a resident with us and want to change housing units, you are on the top of our priority list throughout the year except term start (January and August).

Everything about the housing application here.

Priority applicants are students at one of USN's eight campuses, in addition to students at Fagskolen i Viken, Kongsberg, Fagskolen i Vestfold and Telemark, Folkeuniversitetet avd. Sandefjord and Stavern Police College. Other students and apprentices are also welcome to apply. All applicants must be over 18 years of age.

You may read the allocation criteria for student housing with SSN here.

You apply for student housing with SSN by logging in or creating a user on My page. Then you go through our Housing Selector and select your favorites. Your favorites are going with you to My page, where you fill out the application form.

Read more about how to apply for student housing.

Yes, we would like to arrange for friends to live in the same collective, so-called friend collective. You can either share the kitchen and bathroom, or have your own bathroom but share the kitchen. Either way, you get your own room.

If you are friends who want to live together, it is important that you apply for student housing with us BEFORE 1 May. Do the following when applying:

  • All the friends (who are all students) must submit their own housing application on My page on the property you want to live in together. The student housing building must either have the housing types single unit with private bathroom and shared kitchen or single unit with shared bathroom and kitchen. Here you can read more about our types of housing.

  • Write in the free text field in the application form who you want to live with and that you hope for a friend collective.

  • One of you must also send an e-mail to [email protected], with information that there are two or more of you who want to live together.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that your wish will be fulfilled, but we will do our best to make arrangements!

No, we do not require a deposit when you become a tenant in our student accommodation. That is one of the advantages of choosing student housing! Here you can read more about the benefits of living in student housing:)

Only applicants that receive offers for housing will receive a reply on My page.

Are you an international student wondering if you are allocated student housing on the basis of housing guarantee? Read about the allocation to international students here.

Since we allocate housing units on an ongoing basis, we do not reject applications. You will therefore be on the waiting list with us until:

1. You are allocated a student housing with us, or
2. It has been 60 days since you registered or last extended your application.

If you have not been allocated housing, and have not extended your application after 60 days, your application will be removed from the waiting list. Why do I have to extend my application?

We work as fast as we can to allocate housing, and will give you an answer as soon as possible. Thank you so much for your patience :)

Everyone who applies for student housing with SSN will be placed on a waiting list.

Unfortunately, it is hard for us to say much about your number on our waiting list or how long it will take until we have accommodation to offer you. Some applicants have priority over others for different reasons.

Those who have already applied for a unit are welcome to make changes to their application at any given moment. This results in continuous changes in the waiting list. We send out offers of accommodation consecutively, and there are always some who refuse their offer. When this happens, an offer is immediately sent out to the next person on the list. This means that there is no deadline or specific point in time when we can send offers of accommodation.

Tip:

If you have not added more options to your application (e.g. other housing areas on the same campus or other housing types on the same property that you have already applied for), but wish to change this, you can go to My Page at any time and add more options to your application. This way you might receive an offer sooner.

If you first receive an offer for a housing type that is not your "dream unit", you can submit a new application for the latter. Move in to the unit that was offered to you, and you will and get an offer to move as soon as something becomes available from your top priority.

Read more about changing student housing unit.

If you have questions regarding your application, you are always welcome to contact us.

You can choose between five different housing types among SSN's student housing:

  • Single unit with private bathroom and kitchen

  • Single unit with private bathroom and shared kitchen

  • Single unit with shared bathroom and kitchen

  • Couples apartment

  • Family apartment

We also have housing that are adapted for disabilities, let us know in the comments field in the application what adaptations/facilitation you need. Read more about facilitation for disabilities here.

Find student housing.

Yes you can!

Log in to My page and go to My applications. Here you can choose to change the application in question. For example, you can add more options and increase your chances of being allocated student housing.

Extending the application

If you end up being on the waiting list for student housing at SSN for a long time, and still want an offer from us, you must extend your application to avoid it being deleted.

You will remain on SSN's waiting list until:

1. You have been allocated a housing unit.
2. It has been 60 days since you registered or last extended your application.

The reason why we have to delete applications that have not been extended after 60 days is simply to keep our lists updated. This way we can adjust the waiting lists automatically, and applicants who no longer need housing (and who have not remembered to delete their application) no longer take up space in the waiting list.

This also applies if you have applied to change from one SSN housing unit to another, and may be waiting for the "right" student housing unit to become available.

To extend your application:

You can easily extend your application on My Page and My applications. This can be done when 15 days or less remains before the "delete date". You will receive a reminder 15 days before the "delete date" and have plenty of time to extend.

The application can be extended as many times as you wish until you are allocated a housing unit.

Sign within three days

When you are allocated a student housings unit, you will receive an allocation letter and a tenancy agreement by e-mail. You have three - 3 - days to sign and return the agreement to us.

You may sign the contract in the following ways:

  • Sign with electronic bank ID (this requires a Norwegian social security number).

If you are not able to sign with electronic bank ID:

  • Print the contract, sign it by hand and send by mail.

  • Print the contract, sign it, scan the signed contract and send it by email.

If you have booked a housing unit with SSN, but are not admitted to studies by USN, you can be released from the contract by cancelling it before 31 July.

Read more about cancelling of lease here.

Note! For international students who are in Norway through an exchange program, leases
cannot be terminated. Please read section 4 in your signed contract thoroughly to see what is valid for you.

Yes, at some of our properties it is possible to rent a parking space. You can read more about parking at your student housing by checking out Our housing and Parking at the desired property.

To apply for the rental of a parking space, you must initially have a lease with us. You apply via My Page by going to My Tenancy and Apply for additional products". If there is a space available, you will receive an offer to rent from us, if not, you will be placed on a waiting list.

See the price list for prices for renting a parking space.

If you have not been allocated housing yet, but wish to apply for a parking space, you can contact us and we will help you.

Be prioritized in the queue

When you are already a resident with us, you will be prioritized on the waiting list if you apply to change housing unit. This can be a good solution if you don't feel comfortable in the housing unit you currently live in. Apply to change residence via My page.

Read more about application for change of housing unit.

NB. This information is valid for international students only.

We understand that you are eager to know if you will be granted a student housing unit with SSN. Still, we kindly must ask you to wait until these deadlines by contacting us for questions about the allocation of student housing:

  • For the spring term: 25 May

  • For the fall term: 1 November

After these dates we receive information from USN about who gets a housing guarantee and we will allocate units from this list.

You can expect a reply to your housing application from us after these dates.

There are a certain number of housing units available for international students that apply before 1 May. Whether or not you are guaranteed housing depends on how many applications there are for that semester. Some campuses have more available housing than others. Also keep in mind when applying that some types of housing units will fill up quicker than others, and it can be a good idea to apply for more than one if possible. You can update your application with more alternatives on My page.

We remind you that you need to have applied for student housing with the same name, email address and phone number as you registered with at USN.

If you have a specific desire about the student housing, please go to My page and register a comment at your existing application.

You create a user on My Page yourself.

On My Page, you can apply for student housing and health expence refund. This is also where you report faults and deficiencies in your student housing, or report noise etc. This is also where those of you with a key card can change the PIN code to your card, or even lock yourself in digitally.

You will also find an overview of your tenancy, such as an invoice for rent and you can apply for additional services such as storage or parking space. You see an overview of ongoing and previous applications.

Remember to update your contact information on My Page, for example if you change your telephone number or get a new e-mail address. It is important that your contact information is up to date, so that we as the lessor can get in touch with you. We usually use e-mail or SMS when we send you information.

Everything about housing application

See all our frequently asked questions about student housing.

Contact us