Shared flats in Sousse

Sharing an apartment in Sousse is often the choice of second or third year students who have tried a room in a family home and want more freedom. It is also the choice of young employees arriving for a first job, and of junior doctors who group together for a semester. The typical format is a furnished 2 or 3 bedroom flat in a residence or a small building, rented by two, three or four people.

Listings come from owners who rent to flatmates, and from flatmates looking to replace the one who is leaving. Their number changes from week to week and rises sharply at the end of summer. You contact the advertiser directly to arrange a viewing and ask your questions.

Where the shared apartments are

Flatsharing in Sousse in an apartment concentrates where residences are numerous and the faculties are close. Khezama draws people with its shops, its cafés and the beach within walking distance, with higher rents to split. Sahloul suits junior doctors and health students, a few minutes from the hospital, in residences with a lift and a caretaker. Around the centre and the medina, buildings are older, often without a lift, but very well located: the page on shared apartments in Sousse Médina shows what this area offers.

For tighter budgets, Sousse Riadh and Sousse Jawhara offer larger 3 bedroom flats for a lower total rent, at the cost of a bus or shared taxi ride. Hammam Sousse and Akouda have a few shared apartments, but some of them switch back to summer rentals, which shortens the lease.

Timing matters as much as the neighbourhood. Shared apartments free up in June, when outgoing students hand back the keys, and are taken again between late August and mid October. Searching in July gives more choice but sometimes means paying for the summer; waiting for the start of term narrows the supply to whatever is still free. Places left by a flatmate during the year, in January or February, are often the best deals.

Splitting the rent and the bills

A 3 bedroom flat in a residence in Khezama or Sahloul often rents for between 1,000 and 1,500 DT a month, which comes to 350 to 500 DT per person for three. Further from the centre, the share drops noticeably. On top of these amounts come electricity, water, gas, internet and sometimes building charges, which are best split equally and noted in a document signed by everyone.

The largest room sometimes costs a little more, especially if it has its own shower room. Settle this point before moving in, not at the first month's rent. Also keep a written record of every transfer made to the owner, room by room.

The lease: in whose name, for how long

Two arrangements exist. Either one flatmate signs the lease and sublets rooms to the others, with the owner's consent; or everyone signs the same contract together. The second protects each person better, because no one carries the rent alone if someone leaves. Have the contract registered and draw up an inventory with photos, item by item, since the apartment is almost always let furnished.

The deposit of one or two months is generally shared, and it is refunded at the end of the lease. If one of the flatmates leaves during the year, agree on who finds the replacement and how their share of the deposit is returned.

What owners ask for

Many owners in Sousse accept flatsharing on condition that they know the occupants. Expect to provide a copy of your identity card or student card, sometimes the contact of a parent as guarantor. Some only accept all female or all male flatshares, and prefer a commitment for the whole academic year. These conditions are often stated in the listing; if not, ask about them on the phone.

If a shared apartment does not fit your situation, the page of flatshares in the Sousse governorate includes rooms in family homes, and the apartments for rent in Sousse let you price a home for yourself alone. To compare with other university towns, a page on shared apartments in Tunisia also exists.