Shared flats in La Marsa

Flatsharing in La Marsa has a profile all of its own. The sharers are not mainly students, as in the districts near the universities, but interns at companies in Les Berges du Lac, young engineers, NGO volunteers, contract teachers and Europeans here for six months or a year. They all want the same thing: to live near the sea and the TGM (the light rail to Tunis) without paying the rent on an S+2 (two bedrooms plus a living room) in La Marsa on their own.

Supply is limited. This early autumn, a single listing for a shared flat in La Marsa is live on Houni, posted by a private individual, and rooms mostly come free by word of mouth. So check often and widen your search: all the shared flats in Tunis governorate offer more choice, especially around Les Berges du Lac, Ennasr and downtown.

Where the shared flats are

Most flatshares in La Marsa are in S+2 and S+3 flats in Marsa Erriadh and El Montazeh, developments from the 1990s and 2000s with bedrooms of equal size, which makes sharing easier. Either the main tenant signs the lease and sublets one or two rooms, or the owner lets room by room directly to people who did not know each other.

Around La Marsa Plage and the Medina, older buildings dominate: large high-ceilinged flats, often without a lift, that groups of friends share so they can walk between the beach, the cafés and the TGM station. Sidi Daoud and Marsa Hadayek, more recent, appeal to people working at Les Berges du Lac 2 who want a shorter commute. Gammarth remains marginal for flatsharing: little public transport and villa-level rents.

What a room costs and what it includes

A room in a flatshare in La Marsa generally goes for between 450 and 900 DT a month depending on the district, the size of the room and whether it is furnished, and rarely goes above that ceiling outside Gammarth. The advertised price sometimes includes internet and water, rarely electricity, which climbs fast in summer with the air conditioning. Always ask what is included, and how the STEG (electricity) and SONEDE (water) bills are split.

By comparison, a studio to rent in La Marsa often costs almost as much as one and a half rooms in a flatshare, but studios are even scarcer. Those torn between the two can look at the apartments to rent in La Marsa, studios and S+1 flats included, and judge for themselves.

Back to school, summer and short lets

La Marsa's calendar weighs on flatsharing. Rooms come free in June and December, when internships end and expats go home. They are in high demand in September and January. In summer, some owners prefer to let by the day or the week to holidaymakers and the diaspora, which takes part of the yearly supply off the market between June and September.

If you arrive in July, plan a stopgap for a few weeks and look for your flatshare from mid-September, when seasonal flats go back to yearly tenants. It is also when outgoing flatmates look for a replacement so as not to lose their deposit.

Lease, deposit and house rules

Before committing, ask who holds the lease and whether the owner accepts subletting: a room let by a flatmate without written consent can be taken away from you overnight. The best option is still a contract or an annex in your name, stating the deposit, usually one or two months' rent, and the conditions for getting it back.

Talk about house rules before moving in too: cleaning, guests, hours, sharing the fridge. In the gated developments of Marsa Erriadh, the managing agent and the caretaker sometimes want to know who lives there. On Houni, you contact the advertiser directly, so ask these questions on the first call and visit at a time when the other flatmates are home.