Student Housing: "Supply is up 14%, but it won't be enough," warns the president of the real estate website PAP

In French cities, "on average, there is one supply for every hundred requests" for student housing, warns Corinne Jolly, president of the real estate website Particulier à Particulier, on franceinfo.

This year, the supply of student housing is "up 14%, but it won't be enough," warned Corinne Jolly, president of the real estate website Particulier à Particulier (PAP), on franceinfo on Tuesday, July 22. She points to the "imbalance in the market" because in French cities, "we are on average at one supply for every hundred requests."

However, there is an improvement compared to 2024, "the worst year we have ever seen," underlines the president of PAP. "It was a black year because the acquisition market was so blocked." From the end of 2022, the sudden rise in interest rates had begun to put a stop to the purchase plans of many French households. As a result, "there was no longer any rotation in rentals." Unable to buy, thirty-somethings "no longer left their homes and there were no longer really any offers for new arrivals," explains Corinne Jolly.

However, today, students looking for accommodation for the start of the school year "will not really see any improvement" , the market remains "extremely tight" , notes the president of the real estate site Particulier à Particulier. To support her point, she gives an example: "Yesterday during the day we published an ad for a 21 square meter studio, near the Place de la République, in Paris. Today, it has 957 requests. It's moving very, very quickly and there are a lot of requests."

According to PAP data, the average rent for a 15 square meter apartment in Paris is 690 euros. In cities outside the capital, it costs an average of 621 euros for a 25 square meter apartment. " Rent controls are poorly respected. Around 70% of studios of less than 20 square meters exceed the rent ceilings," acknowledges Corinne Jolly. She notes that "two-room apartments are also very sought-after for small shared accommodations for two people" because this allows "to reduce the bill" with, in "most provincial cities" , a rent of "900 euros, or 450 euros per person."