Criticism mounts over building nationalisation proposals

Rectors fear high admin burden and bad management if they lose lordship of their buildings

Arne Benjaminsen, the director of the University of Oslo, has added his voice to critics concerned about a government suggestion that the buildings belonging to five Norwegian universities should be brought under state ownership. 

In late 2018, the centre-right Norwegian government commissioned a report by management consultants Capgemini, which recommended that the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property (Statsbygg) should take over the stewardship of many civil buildings. These would include the infrastructure of five universities: the University of Oslo, University of Bergen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of Tromsø and Norwegian University of Life Sciences.