“I’ve been looking for more than a month”, “It’s really starting to be a hassle for me, I still haven’t found a studio and my start is Monday…” On Facebook student support groups, requests of this type are pouring in this academic year. The first face-to-face since the start of the health crisis.
Mid-August, studies of the Unef unions (link in PDF) and Fage already revealed an increase in the cost of re-entry for students. In Ile-de-France and in other big cities, the competition is fierce, and young people sometimes have to look for emergency solutions to start the year, while waiting to find a more stable roof.
The flow quickly tightened around July-August. “The period from April to June 2021 had been conducive to more flexibility, due to the distancing, which had led to an increase in available accommodation”, explains to franceinfo Amaury Roland, founder of Studapart, a rental platform specializing in student accommodation. But the return to face-to-face has generated a “perverse effect”.
“We now have to count on the return of international students, more baccalaureate holders and many students who continue their studies, due to difficult entry conditions into the labor market.”
Amaury Roland, founder of the Studapart platformat franceinfo
In their efforts, students face increased competition. “The owners’ responses are not systematic”explains Lucie *, who is about to start a master’s degree at the Institute of Business Administration (IAE) in Créteil (Val-de-Marne). “I also had two of my visits cancelled. One, ten minutes before the appointment and the other the day before, telling me that the apartment was already rented.” Myriam, a marketing student, is resigned. “Every time I look for accommodation in Paris, I know it’s a stroke of luck if my file passes…” With a budget of less than 700 euros, she still hasn’t found anything and has been staying with her friends for the moment, since her return to school at the end of August.
Generally, “there is more demand than supply”, notes Amaury Roland. By way of comparison, the supply of accommodation in student residences amounted to 350,000 places in 2020, according to a Senate report, for a student population estimated at nearly 2.8 million for the start of the 2021 school year by the Ministry of Education. Higher Education and Research. Some regions are more tense than others. In the North, for example, the renovation of the Crous residences on the campus of Villeneuve d’Ascq led to a lack of vacant accommodation for the start of the 2021 school year. On France Bleu Nord, the general manager of the Lille Nord Pas-de-Calais Crous announced in June that nearly a third of the 3,900 rooms in this U city would not be available.
The problem has affected the supply of housing available to new registrants. “We must first relocate a good part of the students”, explains a member of the Student Union Federation (FSE) of Lille to franceinfo. In recent days, many young people are asking for it urgently. “I get 20 to 30 messages a day on my phone. They come to see me with their suitcases. They don’t have a solution.” In those moments, “we call for help those who have a room from 12 to 16 m² so that they can accommodate those who have nothing”.
To make matters worse, students also have to deal with the scams that abound on the internet. “When I post messages on Facebook groups, most of the people who contact me are scammers. They do not want to answer the phone and do not accept visits”denounces Anton*, a philosophy student from Haiti.
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“I must have had five or six scam emailsconfirms Lucie*. Often, these are offers a little below market prices and for refurbished apartments.” But when contacting the advertiser, many students receive questionable emails from “so-called owners” who ask them for a plethora of supporting documents and sometimes even an advance on the rent before carrying out the visit.
The need is even more pressing for students far from their place of training. “I live in Essonne, south of Paris. To get to Créteil by transport, I need an hour and a half one way, and the same on the way back, when there is no problem”, complains Lucie*. Some are even preparing to endure very long journeys.
“A student contacted me urgently because in the absence of accommodation, she is about to start her return to school by traveling from Paris to Lille every day.”
A member of the Student Union Federationat franceinfo
For Loran*, who is entering a master’s degree at the Ecole centrale de Nantes, it is already too late. His return to school took place on 6 September and he is still stuck in Kosovo, his country of origin. “I haven’t found anything in my prices yet“, he explains. Same scenario for Anton *, whose school year began the same day, and who is still in Haiti, unable to come to France. “I received my letter of admission to Paris-Nanterre, in philosophy, but I need a study visa. The embassy requires proof of accommodation to grant me the visa, but I can’t find anything.“
As the start of the school year approaches, students “Often give up on important criteria, such as comfort or distance from their place of education”, laments Amaury Roland. This is the case of Oumou, a student at the Nantes school of architecture, who had to leave her Crous accommodation urgently at the end of the summer. Since then, it has been impossible to rent a new apartment. To avoid getting stuck in the water at the start of the school year, she opted for a hostel for young workers. A temporary solution that does not allow her to have all the space she needs to study. “With the many works and models that we have to do, I need space”she explains.
“While waiting to find something, I had to rent a box to be able to store my things there.”
Oumou, student in a school of architecture in Nantesat franceinfo
Many students interviewed also say they turn to the Airbnb platform, like Clémence, an apprentice in luxury marketing in Paris and whose business debut began last week. “I will use this until an offer becomes available”, she predicts. The young woman has already done the calculation : if she rents an Airbnb for three weeks, it will cost her more than 1 000 euros. A cost that not all students can afford. For Lucie*, this option is not possible. “Anyway, Airbnb in Paris is way too expensive”, she retorts. Without a solution, many students confide in turning to their loved ones, hoping that the situation, sometimes embarrassing, “does not last forever”.
* The first name has been changed at the request of the person concerned.