Student accomodation in Paris

As the summer holidays approach, thousands of French and foreign students prepare to leave their parents' homes to embark on courses at Paris's prestigious colleges and universities. As CROUS (student services) accommodation requests closed on 31 May, students now find themselves caught up in the race to secure accommodation. Lodgis, the Parisian furnished lets specialist, has some advice for students, whatever their budget and the type of accommodation they are seeking.

Single or shared furnished lets

Furnished lets are an ideal solution for students looking to spread their wings. There are plenty of websites catering for the peer-to-peer rentals market. However, landlords are often reluctant to rent to students (for fear of rent defaults and/or property damage). They increasingly turn to professional companies such as Lodgis that offer them piece of mind as they let their properties. As a student, it is a good idea to engage an agency to find a furnished let on your behalf because there are an enormous number of properties on the market and the agency will tackle the task efficiently and assist you with each step of the process (property search, documents for landlords, etc.).

Sharing a flat can be a good option, because it enables students to rent more spacious furnished lets, in some pleasant city-centre districts. However,it is important to find the right group of people. You must all have the appropriate guarantees, and be able to live together!

Another option is intergenerational homesharing, where the student shares an older person's home in return for company day-to-day and sometimes a small income top-up (generally a token rent is paid, and sometimes none at all).

University halls and student hostels

A student coming to Paris for the first time can find it reassuring to live in a communal setting with other students. It can be a good way to make friends. However, there is a huge gulf between supply and demand: an estimated 230,000 students come to Paris each year, and there are just 17,300 places in the city's university residences (student services, private residences, etc.), based on the latest figures from Apur (Parisian planning workshop), collected in March 2013.

Private student residences are more luxurious than student halls of residence but also more expensive (almost as expensive as a studio apartment: between €580 and €950 pcm for an 18 sqm room). However, there is not the same degree of selection when applying for a place as there is for university halls - any student can rent a furnished room in a private residence.

Student hostels have changed dramatically over the last few years. They are no longer like boarding schools with curfews and overcrowded dormitories. Paris has some 30 student hostels offering furnished rooms for 1, 2 or 3 people. Many hostels are women-only. For students, they can be an attractive way to live in Paris on a budget (rents range from €250 to €500 pcm). Although hostels are reassuring for parents, the student needs to be prepared for both the advantages and disadvantages of communal living!

View all the furnished studio apartment lets at under €1,000 pcm available from Lodgis. They are an ideal solution for both French and foreign students spending a term or academic year in Paris.

Read more:

• Lodgis wins a 2015 FNAIM VIP Trophy!
• Property / Autumn 2015: an update from Lodgis on the summer's major reforms
• Selling a furnished let: a means to make a profit on an investment