Shared flats in Tunis

Sharing a flat has become the most common way in Tunis to pay a capital-city rent on an entry-level salary or a student grant. A two- or three-bedroom flat is split between two, three or four people, each with their own room, while the kitchen, living room and bathroom are shared. The search "flatshare tunis" is almost always about this situation: a private room in a flat, not a bed in a dormitory.

The listings on this page are posted by tenants looking for someone to take a room that has come free, or by owners who rent out their flat room by room. You call the person who posted the listing directly. Supply changes quickly and is larger around the universities and the business districts than in the residential delegations of the west.

Four areas, four kinds of flatmates

The city centre and Lafayette, in Bab El Bhar, offer large old flats with high ceilings, often without a lift and with a single bathroom. The rent share remains reasonable for such a central address, and the metro, the station and the buses let you live without a car. Here you meet interns, young recruits from the banks and public administrations, and language students. The page for shared flats in Bab El Bhar gives the details.

El Manar and El Menzah revolve around the university campus. Student flatshares are the most numerous there, in residential-complex flats shared by three or four, and demand soars at the start of the academic year. The page for shared flats in El Menzah describes this student market.

Le Kram and La Goulette attract those who want the sea and the TGM light railway, with lower rent shares than in the neighbouring northern suburbs. The page for flatsharing in Le Kram covers this area. Finally, La Marsa and Les Berges du Lac bring together young professionals sharing a recent flat with parking and a caretaker: the rent share there often exceeds the price of a studio in the centre, but the comfort is in another league.

Budget: what a room in a shared flat costs

A private room in a shared flat often costs between 300 and 600 DT a month depending on the neighbourhood, the size of the room and the condition of the flat. Rooms with a private shower room and flatshares in La Marsa or Les Berges du Lac go higher. The advertised price does not tell the whole story: ask whether water, electricity, gas and internet are included or split separately, and on what basis. Electricity bills climb in summer with air conditioning and in winter with electric heating, and they are the number one source of disputes between flatmates.

The deposit is usually one month's rent, sometimes two for a furnished flat. It should be paid against a receipt, and the date it will be returned should be written down somewhere.

Who signed the lease

In many flatshares, a single occupant holds the tenancy agreement and sublets the other rooms. Before moving in, ask to see this lease and check that the owner accepts flatsharing. If the leaseholder leaves, the others need to know whether they can stay and on what terms. The safest option is still something in writing, even a short document, signed with the person who collects your rent: rent share, deposit, notice period, house rules.

Listings often state who they are looking for, a flatshare for men only or for women only, and many owners insist on it. Say who you are on the first call, your situation and how long you plan to stay. Mixed flatshares do exist, especially among foreign students and young professionals, but they are less often accepted.

Choosing the right time

Rooms come free in June, at the end of exams and internships, and are all taken again at the same time between late August and late September. Looking in July gives you a choice; looking once the academic year has started leaves you with what is left. For a young professional arriving mid-year, November and February are quiet months, when an owner is more willing to negotiate. If you would rather have a room in a house than in a flat, the page for flatsharing in Tunis adds rooms in family homes.