Flatshare in El Menzah

In El Menzah, flatsharing revolves around one place: the El Manar university campus. The Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, the ENIT engineering school, the Faculty of Law and the faculty of economics and management bring together thousands of students from Sfax, Gafsa, Le Kef or Jendouba, and not all of them get a place in a hall of residence. Some of them look for a lodger's room in a family home or a place in a flat that is already shared, in Manar 2, Manar 1 or the neighbouring Menzah districts. Alongside them, young professionals, interns and newly posted civil servants look for the same thing for other reasons: a rent cut in half in an area where a whole S+2 (two bedrooms plus a living room) is expensive.

This page gathers the flatshare listings, rooms and flats alike, posted for the delegation. To be frank: very few listings are online here, most of them posted by private landlords. Flatsharing in El Menzah is still largely arranged by word of mouth and through student groups. For more choice, widen to all flatshares in Tunis governorate and come back here regularly, especially at the end of August.

The lodger's room, the most common form

The most frequent arrangement in El Manar is still a room in a family house. A villa floor that has grown too big since the children left, a self-contained room on the roof terrace, a studio fitted out above the garage: many owners in Manar 1 and Menzah 1 let one or two rooms to students this way. Listings often state who is accepted, and "girls only" is a common mention, as is a ban on evening visitors. Better to read these conditions before calling than to discover them when the keys are handed over.

A furnished room usually comes with a bed, a wardrobe and a desk, with access to the kitchen and shower room, sometimes shared with the family. The rent for a room near the campus often sits between 300 and 550 DT (Tunisian dinars) a month depending on size, condition and what is included. Ask whether water, electricity and the internet connection are part of that price: it is rarely the same from one place to the next.

Manar 2, Manar 1, Menzah 4: where to look depending on your timetable

Manar 2 is the obvious choice for anyone with classes at the Faculty of Sciences or the ENIT: you walk there, and it is where student flatshares are most numerous. The flip side is the September rush, when a decent room is taken within a few days. Manar 1, more residential, mostly offers rooms with families, quieter and a little dearer. Menzah 4, around the Cité Olympique and the stadium, suits young professionals working towards central Tunis or the Centre Urbain Nord business district.

Listings are sorted by sector on houni.tn: El Menzah, El Manar 1, El Manar, 1er Juin and El Fath. A search for "menzah 6" or "menzah 9" often lands here, but those estates belong to Ariana governorate and do not appear on this page.

To share a whole flat rather than take a room in someone's home, the page on shared flats in El Menzah sets out that other way of doing it.

The university calendar rules everything

Rooms come free in June, at the end of exams, and are taken again between mid-August and the end of September. A student searching in October finds leftovers; a young professional searching in November or February, on the contrary, finds a relaxed market and landlords ready to come down a little. Many landlords offer a ten-month commitment, from September to June, and do not let over the summer.

Before paying anything, visit the room, meet the family or the flatmates, and ask for something in writing: a simple rental contract, even for a room, stating the deposit, usually one month's rent, and the date it will be returned. Photograph the condition of the room on the day you move in. Finally, if no room suits you, a studio or an S+1 on your own is not always out of reach: compare with the apartments to rent in El Menzah before deciding.