It isn’t always easy to choose among public or private student residences, homestays, flatshares or studios. Here’s an overview of your options for student housing in France.

A diversified offer in student housing

92% of undergraduate students follow higher education once they’re done with high school. In many cases, this means changing cities and moving out from the family home. More than 1 500 000 students search for student housing near their college or university each year.

But each of them is different. Everyone has different tastes, preferences and habits. They have to find accommodation that suits their lifestyle.

The good thing is on Studapart, you can find any type of student accommodation. You can choose the one that fits all your criteria and focus on what matters: your studies!

The most common dwelling on the rental market

Many individual landlords appreciate renting their property to students. Studios are very popular with young people: 57% of them choose to live in a studio.

For which kind of profile?

This type of accommodation offers freedom in your lifestyle. Studios are generally located a little further away from colleges and universities than student residences, but closer to the lively city centre. This type of accommodation is great if you enjoy maintaining a social and festive life while enjoying some peace and quiet to study.

How much costs a student accommodation rented by a private owner?

For this type of student accommodation, the average rent is 500€, with large disparities between cities. A student studio in Paris will often cost more than €800, compared to €700 in Lyon, €550 in Marseille and €400 in Clermont.

Finding a studio

There are several ways to find your student apartment. The most used are classifieds platforms for individuals, such as LeBonCoin.fr or SeLoger.fr. These sites put tenants and landlords in contact without following up or settling disputes.

How can Studapart help you find a studio?

For its part, Studapart offers more than 60,000 student studios and is available for support and guidance through all of your steps. Whether you’re searching for a studio or looking for a tenant to rent your studio, Studapart guarantees you a 100% secure rental experience. This way!

A more and more popular option

Arriving in a new city and integrating quickly is not always easy. Staying in a shared apartment is an opportunity to connect with people. A student flat share also allows you to benefit from larger accommodation for a lower rent. Roommates also organize themselves regularly to share household chores and errands. It is in order to enjoy all these advantages that nearly 20% of students now choose a roommate.

For which kind of profile?

Flatsharing is ideal if you’re rather sociable and if you want to feel at home while discovering local student’s lifestyle. You will pay reasonable rent for an apartment more spacious than if you lived on your own. And besides from sharing the rent, you can also share grocery shopping and take turns for chores. If you’re moving in with strangers, you will have the opportunity to make friends outside from high school. If you stay with people you know, living with them might be more spontaneous, but it can also get more tricky to speak up if something goes wrong!

How much is the rent in a flatshare?
​

Flatsharing is a cost-effective solution for tight budgets. Sharing the rent, but also service charges and utilities, allows to enjoy more spacious accommodation at a lower cost.

For this type of student housing, the rent is on average €435 per roommate. There are disparities between cities, but they are less marked than for studios. Shared accommodation in Paris costs €630, compared to €510 for a roommate in Lyon, €455 for a roommate in Bordeaux and €400 for a roommate in Marseille.

Finding roommates

Many flatsharing websites exist. The most used are individual classifieds sites, such as LeBonCoin.fr or SeLogesr.fr. Social network, especially Facebook, are also an alternative but this option isn’t the safest.

How can Studapart help with flatshares?

Studapart has more than 20 000 shared flats on its platform. Unlike other platforms, tenants are supported in their steps from start to finish.

A common solution for accommodation

In addition to student apartments in private homes, the private rental stock also includes housing in student residences. These places offer a service similar to privately owned studios but of a higher quality than CROUS. They are generally closer to the schools but further away from the bustle of the city centre. Living in a student residence also means benefiting from additional amenities. You usually find a fitness room, a laundry, a car park or a bicycle room in the premises. Service charges are also included and managed by the residence manager. Everything is done so you worry about as less practical issues as possible during your stay.

For which kind of profile?

Accommodation in a student residence is intended primarily for young people who wish to have a quiet environment to study. However, this does not mean depriving oneself of student life. The other rooms of the residence are close to each other and allow cohesion between the different occupants of the residence.

How much is the rent in private student residences?

Private student residences offer furnished rooms that are more pricey than public residences, but they come with premium services. Front desk, household linen, breakfast and premises cleaning are compulsory. In addition, they usually offer more things such as laundry, housekeeping, Internet access, bicycle storage… In general, the premises are modern, renovated and fully equipped. Accommodations include a kitchen area with a sink, heating plates, refrigerator, microwave and dishware. They also come with storage, TV and telephone plugs, furniture, light and a bathroom. Linen is also provided and changed on a regular basis.

For this type of accommodation, you would have to spend €571 on average per month, but the rent varies greatly depending on the city. Staying in a student residence in Paris costs around €690, compared to €580 in Lyon, €555 in Bordeaux and around €500 in Marseille.

Finding accommodation in a private student residence

There are a few sites listing this type of housing, like Adele for instance. This site offers some private student residence accommodation. It offers a booking service similar to Studapart.

How can Studapart help you find accommodation in a residence?

Studapart is partner with 550 residences and offers close to 80,000 units in their buildings. Thanks to our growing partnerships, Studapart provides its tenants with more and more quality accommodation. Our multilingual support team is also available 6 days a week to help you if you need any help.

The best option for tight budgets

When in a homestay accommodation, you share a place with the owner of the house. Usually, you will have a furnished room as your private space, and the owner also gives you access to the kitchen and bathroom. They often give you access to the living room too. The room must meet certain requirements: to measure a minimum of 9m2, have a window, lighting and basic furniture. You won’t be on your own, and that can be both useful and relieving if you’re arriving in a completely new place you don’t know anyone in. Obviously, the experience will depend on your affinities with the host, and you will have to make concessions regarding privacy and independence. You will inevitably have to follow certain rules established or implied by the owner.

For what kind of profile?

Students who choose to live in homestays often feel the need to be accompanied and to share moments of life, and usually have a tight budget. Just like flatsharing, it is a very economical solution. Service charges are entirely paid by the host, which greatly reduces the tenant's budget.

How much is the rent for homestays?

It’s an affordable solution: rent ranges from €250 in most cities to €562 in the capital, and you won’t have to pay additional costs like internet access for instance. A room in a homestay would cost €499 in Lyon, €446 in Bordeaux and around €400 in Marseille.

Finding a homestay

Students looking for this type of accommodation mainly use private-to-private websites such as Leboncoin.fr or SeLoger.fr. These sites put students in contact with hosts to start the process. However, no follow-up is provided and any disputes must be settled amicably between the different parties.

How can Studapart help you find a homestay?

Studapart has about 5,000 additional homestays on its platform every year. But above all, our platform provides follow up before and after the reservation. It also issues the Studapart certification, which greatly increases the chances of finding accommodation.

A similar alternative to homestays

Usually chosen by international students who wish to better their French, au-pair accommodation (renting a room in turn of services) is the most affordable housing solution. It works the same as homestay, but the rent can be even lower in exchanges for certain services such as assistance in grocery shopping and chores. This kind of accommodation is usually hosted by elderly people who like having some company or by parents that need someone to babysit their children or who would like you to teach them your language. If you go for this kind of accommodation, we strongly advise you sign a contract with your host to define your arrangement. Just like homestays, it’s a great option if you wish to bond with locals.

For which kind of profile?

Just like people who choose to stay in homestays, people who choose au-pair accommodation often seek a little company to make up for leaving home. The services rendered to the host provide a little more financial independence for those who wish to do so and also give meaning to the rental.

Au-pair isn't suitable if your have very demanding studies because the services asked from you might be a bit time-consuming for someone who studies a lot.

The rent is similar to a homestay. Rental for services is cheaper thanks to the income paid by the host to the tenant for the services rendered. This amount of money depends of course on the nature and duration of the service.

Searching methods are the same for an au-pair accommodation as for a homestay. It is often a matter of putting the various parties in contact with each other, without any assistance or help in setting up a rental application or managing disputes.

Studapart offers more than 2,000 au-pair accommodation offers with our 36,000 owners. By supervising the process from A to Z, Studapart provides students with peace of mind and tranquillity in their search for an au-pair accommodation.

Rooms in public student residences are cheaper than in private residences. On top of that, you can apply for the APL (housing welfare) when you live in a CROUS residence, resulting in a great economy. But public residences don’t offer the same level of comfort as private residences, and they’re much more demanded: it’s very difficult booking a slot in time and you will have to make a specific application to demand a room.

There are two kinds of accommodations in CROUS residences:

individual furnished 9m2 rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom. They’re quite small but convenient considering the rent starts at €150.

furnished studios, from 21 to 31m2. They’re more spacious, with a private bathroom and kitchen corner. The rent for these is around €400.

You won't find CROUS residences offers on your Studapart housing platform though. But don't worry: there are various other solutions to find accommodation in France.