Flatshare in Sidi Hassine

A room in a family home is still one of the cheapest ways to live in Tunis, and Sidi Hassine is a good place to find one. This page covers the two kinds of shared living you come across in the delegation: a room let inside a family house, with use of the kitchen and bathroom, and a home shared between several tenants, a house or a single floor. The first mostly draws people on their own, often young and up from the interior for a first job; the second, groups of colleagues or friends.

Supply is scarce and most of it is arranged by word of mouth. Listings online in this category are few and change from week to week. On Houni, the family or tenant who posts gives their number and you call them directly. To improve your chances, look at flatshares across the Tunis governorate, which include districts closer to the centre.

Living with a family: what it means

In a multi-storey house in Sidi Hassine, the room on offer is often one left by a child who moved out, or a room added on the roof terrace with its own entrance. That second case, the self-contained roof room, gives you the most freedom and is close to a small studio. In the first case you share the family's daily life: their hours, visitors, use of the kitchen.

Families who let rooms set their own conditions. Most say from the outset whether the room is for a woman or for a man, and many ask for a reference or a guarantor. An introduction from a colleague or a relative who lives in the area makes things much easier.

The upsides are real: no furniture to buy, a lived-in and therefore watched-over house, often a shared meal on feast days, and a landlord who fixes small breakdowns quickly. So are the constraints: visitors are sometimes limited, laundry is done at agreed times, and late nights are not always welcome. Better to talk about it openly on the first visit than find out once you have moved in.

Districts and prices

El Jaiara and the old core of Sidi Hassine have most of the rooms available, thanks to the shops and the buses into the centre. Birine and Cité du 20 Mars have fewer, but sometimes in newer, quieter houses. For anyone working in the business parks on the south-west side of the capital, being close makes up for simpler accommodation.

The price of a room for rent in Sidi Hassine stays modest, well below a room in the student districts or the city centre. It goes up if the room is furnished, if bills are included or if it has its own bathroom. Ask exactly what the amount covers: water, electricity, gas, internet.

Demand climbs in September and January, when new hires and interns arrive. Outside those periods, families who have let a room for years are looking to replace a tenant who left and are more open to discussing the price, especially for a stay of several months.

Precautions to take

Even in a family home, something in writing protects both sides. A simple signed agreement stating the amount, the payment date, the deposit and the notice period clears up most misunderstandings. Keep a record of every payment.

On the visit, check the room's ventilation and damp, the lock on the door, and access to the bathroom at the times you will need it. Try the commute to work early in the morning: with no metro, buses and shared taxis make journey times vary a lot. If you would prefer a flat shared between tenants with no landlord on site, the shared flats in Sidi Hassine page is more targeted. For a place of your own, see the homes to rent in Sidi Hassine.