Flatshare in Bab El Bhar

In Bab El Bhar, renting a room in someone's home is an old habit. A widow who keeps the large family apartment on Rue de Marseille, a retired couple whose children have left, a family freeing up the room on the street side: many owners in the centre rent a furnished room by the month to a student, an intern or a civil servant posted to Tunis. This page brings together those rooms and the places in flatshares, whatever the type of home.

The listings are posted by private individuals themselves, with few agencies in this segment, and supply stays small at the scale of the delegation. For more choice, the shared housing across the Tunis governorate also covers the university districts in the north of the capital.

With a host or between flatmates: two ways of living

A room with a host suits those who arrive in Tunis alone and want a well kept setting. The owner lives on site, the room is furnished, bed linen and sometimes meals can be included. In return, there are rules: hours, visitors, use of the kitchen. These are often families who prefer to house a female student or a young woman, and the listings say so.

Flatsharing between tenants gives more freedom. Everyone has their own room, the common areas are shared, and it is up to the group to organise itself. For this format, more common in large old apartments and in a few Berges du Lac residences, the shared apartments in Bab El Bhar page details the areas and profiles.

Where the rooms are

Most of the supply is in the old centre: around Avenue de Paris, Rue de Marseille, Rue de Yougoslavie and in Lafayette, in buildings where apartments are big enough to set a room apart. You can live there without a car, between Tunis station, the light metro stops and the buses that serve the whole capital. The districts that listings call Habib Thameur, Mongi Slim or Taieb Mhiri belong to the same dense urban fabric, with residential buildings above shops.

In Berges du Lac, rooms to rent are rarer: a room on a villa floor or in a residence apartment, let to a young professional rather than a student. The price follows the district, as does the comfort, and you have to reckon with journeys made mostly by car or taxi.

What to settle before unpacking

Have it spelled out what the rent covers: electricity, water, internet, heating in winter and air conditioning in summer. In a room with a host, an all inclusive flat rate is common, but some owners limit the use of air conditioning or charge extra in July and August. Also ask whether the room locks, and whether you get a shelf in the fridge and free access to the bathroom.

On the formal side, even for a room, a simple written agreement protects both parties: rent, deposit, duration, notice to leave. A one month deposit is the most common practice, returned on departure after the room is checked. Pay against a receipt, every month without exception, and keep a copy of the owner's ID card and the exact address of the home, useful for any administrative step or a grant application.

Timing matters a lot: rooms are taken in September and February, following semesters and internships. Visit by day then come back in the evening, as some streets in the centre empty out once offices close. Those who would rather have a place of their own will find studios and S+1 flats among the homes to rent in Bab El Bhar.