Shared flats in Ariana Ville

Sharing an S+2 or S+3 has become the most common way to live in Ariana Ville when you are twenty-five. Rents in Ennasr and the Menzah areas have risen faster than starting salaries and student grants, and a room in a shared flat lets you live in a well connected neighbourhood for a fraction of the rent on a studio. Flatsharing in Ariana is as much for students at the universities in northern Tunis as for young engineers, nurses and sales staff just arrived from Sfax, Gabès or Le Kef for a first job.

The listings on this page are posted by flatmates looking for someone to take the free room, or by owners who let room by room. The number of listings varies a lot with the season, and you call the person who posted. If the delegation has little on offer the day you look, all the shared flats in the Ariana governorate widen the search to La Soukra, Ettadhamen and Raoued.

Which neighbourhood for a shared flat?

Ennasr 1 and Ennasr 2 are where young professionals share: recent blocks with a lift, cafés and mini-markets downstairs, quick access to El Ghazala, Les Berges du Lac or central Tunis. A flatshare in Ennasr is often split three ways in an S+3, each person with their own room and the kitchen and living room shared. It is the most expensive option in the delegation, but also where you find the most furnished, fully equipped flats.

El Menzah 5 and El Menzah 6 suit students better. The buildings are older, often with no lift, but the rooms are big and the El Manar campus is close. Central Ariana, around the metro terminus, is the cheapest option for anyone without a car: you get to Tunis without changing lines. Ariana Supérieure, Ettaamir and Nouvelle Ariana have mid-range rents, with more recent developer-built flats.

Your own room or a shared room

Most people want a single room in a flatshare in Ariana: a room of your own that locks, in a flat where you share the common areas. Depending on the area and the state of the flat, such a room usually goes for 300 to 600 DT a month, sometimes with bills included, more in Ennasr 2 in a recently furnished flat. A room shared by two, less common now, is mostly found in student flats in the centre and the Menzah areas, at much lower prices.

Many listings say who they are looking for: women only, men only, student or working, non-smoker. That is not a minor point. In an apartment block, the neighbours and the owner are more accepting of a quiet, like-minded group, and day-to-day life goes better when people keep similar hours.

When to look

Most rooms come up in late August and September, before the university year starts, then a second wave in January and February with internships and the change of semester. In July, many student flatmates go home to their parents and look for someone to cover the summer: a good chance for an intern arriving for two or three months.

Young professionals, meanwhile, look all year round, in step with hiring. Those who want to see shared houses or villa floors can also check the flatshares in houses in Ariana Ville.

What to sort out before moving in

Whose name is on the lease? In many flatshares, a single flatmate has signed with the owner and sublets the rooms. Ask to see the contract and check that the owner agrees, otherwise you could be asked to leave with no notice. Put in writing the amount of your share, the deposit paid and who will return it.

Agree as well on how the STEG, SONEDE and internet bills are split, and on house rules: visitors, cleaning, cooking. And if you decide you would rather live alone, the apartments for rent in Ariana Ville start at S+1 in the old centre.