“I’ve been looking for over a month”, “It’s really starting to be a pain on my side, I still haven’t found a studio and my return to school is Monday …” On the Facebook support groups for students, requests of this type are pouring in at the start of the academic year. The first face-to-face since the start of the health crisis.
Mid August, studies of unions Unef (link in PDF) and Fage already revealed an increase in the cost of back to school for students. In Ile-de-France and other big cities, the competition is tough, 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 face-to-face return generated a “perverse effect”.
“We must now count the return of international students, more baccalaureate holders and many students who continue their studies, due to difficult conditions for entering the labor market.”
Amaury Roland, founder of the Studapart platform
to franceinfo
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In their efforts, students face increased competition. “The owners’ responses are not systematic”, explains Lucie *, who is preparing 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 canceled. 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 fluke if my file passes…” With a budget of less than 700 euros, she still hasn’t found anything and is 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 housing 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 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 has led to a lack of vacant housing for the start of the 2021 school year. On France Bleu Nord, the general manager of the Crous de Lille Nord Pas-de-Calais announced in June that nearlyone third of the 3,900 rooms in this city U would not be available.
The problem has had repercussions on the supply of housing available for new registrants. “We must first rehouse 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 have no 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 don’t want to answer the phone and don’t accept a visit.”, denounces Anton *, a philosophy student from Haiti.
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“I must have had five or six scam emails, confirms 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 public transport, I need an hour and a half to go, and the same on the way back, when there is no problem”, complains Lucie *. Some are even preparing to have 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 making the Paris-Lille trip every day.”
A member of the Student Union Federation
to franceinfo
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For Loran *, who is entering a master’s degree at the Ecole Centrale de Nantes, it is already too late. Its re-entry took place on 6 September and he is still stuck in Kosovo, his home country. “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 not find anything.“
As the start of the school year approaches, students “often ignore 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 architecture school, 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. In order not to end up stuck in the water at the start of the school year, she opted for a home 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 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.”
Oumou, student in a school of architecture in Nantes
to franceinfo
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Many students interviewed also say they turn to the Airbnb platform, like Clémence, a work-study in luxury marketing in Paris and whose business debut began last week. “I’ll use this until an offer becomes available”, she predicts. The young woman has already done the math : 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 that they turn to their loved ones, hoping that the sometimes embarrassing situation “don’t go on forever”.
* The first name has been changed at the request of the interested party.
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