Shared flats in Mannouba

In Manouba, flatsharing is first and foremost a student affair. The university campus brings together the faculty of letters, arts and humanities, the ISCAE, the ESC, the ENSI, the IPSI and the ISAMM, and every new academic year brings thousands of young people from all over the country. Student halls are not enough and studios are taken over the summer: two or three classmates sharing an S+2 or S+3 (two or three bedrooms plus a living room) remains the most widespread solution, and often the cheapest per person.

Listings on this page are posted by owners who let directly to a group, or by flatmates looking for someone to take over a vacated room. Supply varies from week to week, very tight in September, calmer in February. To widen the search to Douar Hicher, Oued Ellil or Mornaguia, the page of shared flats in Manouba governorate covers the whole governorate.

Where the shared flats are

Central Manouba, between the town hall and the campus, concentrates the flats let to groups: blocks of three or four storeys, often without a lift, a few minutes' walk from the faculties. It is the choice of those without a car who want to walk home after evening classes.

Denden and Denden Sud have more recent developments, with roomier S+2 and S+3 flats. The light metro reaches Le Bardo and central Tunis, which also draws young workers, trainees or people in their first job, who share a flat so as not to pay a capital-city rent alone. Ksar Saïd, more residential, mainly offers house floors, and the ISSEP in Ksar Saïd brings part of the student demand there.

How the flatshare is set up

In practice, the owner usually signs with a single tenant, sometimes with the parents as guarantors, and the others pay their share to whoever holds the contract. It is simple but fragile: if a flatmate leaves in December, the contract holder alone remains liable for the full rent. A contract naming all the occupants is better, or at the very least a written agreement between flatmates setting each person's share, the deposit and the notice period.

The deposit is usually one or two months' rent, paid once for the whole flat. Note who put it up: at the end, that is often the bone of contention. Also do an inventory with photos when moving in, room by room, and keep it in a message shared with everyone.

Bills, rules and calendar

The STEG (electricity) and SONEDE (water) bills come in the name of the owner or a single flatmate, and in winter electric heating pushes the bill up. Set a sharing rule from the start, equal shares or according to room size. Internet is shared too, and a fixed-line subscription is more reliable than a 4G dongle split four ways.

Many owners set their own conditions: flat reserved for girls or for boys, no visitors in the evening, letting from September to June only. Read the listing to the end and ask before the viewing. Some agree to let ten months out of twelve, others insist on the whole year: the difference weighs heavily on the summer budget, when most students go home.

The best time to look is still July, before the September rush. Those who arrive after enrolment are more likely to find a room to take over in a flat that is already set up.

When sharing does not suit you

If you would rather have a room in a family home or a self-contained studio, the flatsharing in Manouba page covers every arrangement. And for a couple or a family wanting a whole flat, the apartments to rent in Manouba show the rents on a standard lease, also useful to check that a flatshare share is not overpriced.