Flatshare in Tunis

This page brings together every form of shared housing in the governorate: a room rented in a family house, a self-contained room built on a rooftop, a villa floor shared between colleagues, and flats in flatshare. For many people arriving from Sfax, Kairouan, Gafsa or Jendouba for a first job, an internship or a training course, a room in a family home is their first address in Tunis, while they get to know the city and put a little money aside.

Listings are posted by families, owners and tenants looking for a flatmate, and you contact them directly. Supply online varies from week to week, because a good part of this market is still settled by word of mouth. Check back often, especially at the end of summer.

A room in a family home, a format of its own

Renting a room from a family is nothing like sharing a flat with other young people. You have your own room, often furnished with a bed, a wardrobe and a desk, and you share the kitchen and shower room with people who have lived there for years. The rules come from them: what time to be back, visitors, use of the kitchen, laundry. They are rarely written in the listing, so ask about them on the first call rather than discovering them on the first evening.

A rooftop room, with its own entrance and sometimes a small shower room, gives far more freedom and comes close to a studio. It is found in the multi-storey houses of working-class and middle-income neighbourhoods. Listings often state whether the room is for a man or a woman, and flatshares for men are as much in demand as the rest: construction workers, technicians, security guards and shop staff look for a room near their work, not necessarily near the universities.

Where to look depending on your budget

The lowest rents are in the west and south: Sidi Hassine, Ezzouhour, El Hrairia, El Ouardia, El Kabaria. A room in a family home costs noticeably less there than in the north of the city, with shared taxis and buses to the centre. The page for flatsharing in Sidi Hassine describes this market well, that of families renting out the room of a child who has left home.

El Menzah and El Manar meet a different demand, that of campus students and interns at the hospitals and public administrations. Rooms there are more expensive, but the faculty is within walking distance; the page for flatsharing in El Menzah shows how much the academic calendar governs everything there. El Omrane and El Omrane Supérieur, between the centre and the campus, offer a compromise on price and commute.

By the sea, Le Kram and La Goulette offer rooms and shared floors linked to the centre by the TGM light railway, covered in detail on the page for flatsharing in Le Kram. La Marsa remains the most expensive area, with part of the supply switching to summer lets from June to September.

What a room costs and what to ask

Depending on the neighbourhood and the level of comfort, a room in a family home often rents for between 250 and 500 DT a month, more in the north of the city or if it has its own shower room. Always ask what is included: water, electricity, gas, internet, sometimes bed linen. A low price that excludes everything can end up costing more than a slightly pricier room with everything included.

The deposit is usually around one month's rent. Pay it against a signed receipt, and have the date and conditions of its return spelled out. For a room as for a whole home, a simple tenancy agreement signed by both sides, stating the rent, the term and the notice period, protects the tenant as much as the owner. Take photos of the room on the day you move in.

A room or a shared flat

A room with a family suits those who want a low rent and a well-kept setting. If you would rather live with flatmates your own age, without an owner under the same roof, the page for shared flats in Tunis brings together the free rooms in shared flats. And to compare with a studio of your own, keep an eye on small units for rent in the same neighbourhood: the price gap is sometimes smaller than you might think.