Good housing is an essential part of a successful study.
However, this can be a real challenge for international students due to various barriers such as lack of offers, language, guarantor requirements, etc.
Before starting to search for an accommodation option, is it very important to have an idea of the budget needed. Monthly rents may greatly vary depending on the type of accommodation as well as the location.
Several organizations regularly publish studies showing average housing prices by property type (for example LocService.fr).
Now this has been said, what are the different options for international students looking for a home?
Like elsewhere, there are 3 main possibilities:
1. Housing through student residence
Although very few schools and universities have their own on-campus residence, there exists a certain number of student residences open to all students, no matter where they are enrolled. Many websites list them. The vast majority of them are private and in high demand. If you are interested in one of them, you should then start applying as early as possible.
They usually offer student individual studios, equipped with small kitchens and bathrooms and offer some common areas notably for laundry or gathering together.
The price vary a lot depending on the city but it can be seen as relatively expensive as it includes a certain number of services such as Internet access, security, etc.
There is also a network of public student residences managed by CROUS (Centre régional des œuvres universitaires et scolaires). They are by far the most affordable solutions but they are at first made available to students who are officially eligible for social grants in France and they are being allocated very early before the start of the school year. It is thus not easy to get a studio in these residences.
2. Private rental housing
This solution, either through individual studios or apartment-sharing is by far the most popular with students in France. There again, you can find many online platforms gathering all kinds of rental ads.
Among them, LivinFrance is our preferred partner offering not only a platform fully in English but also 100% equipped flats (bed, desks, washing machines…), a simplified booking procedure and a customer service easy to reach and reactive.
If you choose this solution of private rental housing then you must be very careful of possible scams. If you select a landlord on your own, outside the school’s partners, then we highly advise you not to send any money before having actually physically visited the place. Photos might be misleading and the environment is as important as the place itself.
In that case, we suggest you to book a short-term accommodation for the first days and from there, to take the time to search for, visit and book your house.
3. Homestay
Last but not least, you can also decide for homestay in a French family. Although it is not as well developed as in Anglo-Saxon countries, it still is a possibility which has the advantage of combining the comfort of a host family with accelerated learning of the French language and immersion in the local culture.
Several websites list different families wishing to host students (France Stay – only for Paris, CoHomly). Some even provide for exchanges of services, such as intergenerational housing, which is certainly worth considering for the tightest budgets (e.g. Ensemble2générations).
And talking about budget, the good news is that international students qualify for housing subsidies and this, whether they live in public or private housing. Managed by the CAF (Caisse d’Allocations Familiales), these subsidies are either the APL (Allocations personnalisées au logement) or ALS (Allocation de logement sociale) and can be very helpful. A request can be made as soon as the student moved-in and has a bank account in France.
To conclude this brief note, do not forget to take a look at Campus France’s webpage dedicated to accommodation for international students (Where to live during your stay). They gather tips, definition of technical vocabulary that you might need, useful addresses and contacts…
At the digital age, your challenge might rather be to choose quality information than to access it. Our final advise then is to anticipate as much as you can as well as to select trustful platforms and search from there!
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