Shared houses in Sfax Ouest

Sharing a whole house is still rarer than renting a room, but in Sfax Ouest the arrangement makes sense. The delegation has many family houses with a courtyard and several bedrooms, some of which stay empty part of the year, and around Soukra it is home to a large student population. When the two meet, a three or four bedroom house becomes a home for a group of friends or a small class.

The listings on this page are posted by owners renting their house to several people, or by flatmates looking for one more person. Supply is limited and irregular: to see the whole region, all the shared houses in the Sfax governorate are gathered on one page.

Which houses get shared

The typical house in the delegation lends itself well to sharing: a ground floor with three bedrooms around a living room, a separate kitchen, a courtyard and often a garage. The most sought after are those on the first kilometres of the Soukra road, within walking or bus distance of the faculties. Around Merkez Chaker and Cité El Habib, the houses are older and rents lower, with the advantage of a lively, shop filled neighbourhood.

There are also houses belonging to emigrant families, rented during the academic year and taken back by the family in summer. It is an interesting option for students who go home in July, but it means leaving on a fixed date: to be clarified from the first viewing.

For a group, a house has assets an apartment does not: a courtyard to hang the washing and meet up in the evening, a garage for motorbikes or bicycles, sometimes a spare room turned into a shared study. The rent, divided by four or five, often works out cheaper per person than a room in a residence. On the other hand, the house is bigger to heat in winter, longer to clean, and it requires an organisation not every group has. Before committing, spend an evening together discussing the rules: guests, hours, sharing chores, one flatmate leaving early. The groups that last the year are the ones that did.

A whole house, shared responsibilities

Renting a house together means one lease for several people. The simplest is for every flatmate to be on the contract, with a clear joint liability clause, or for the owner to sign an individual commitment with each one. In practice, many owners prefer to deal with a single person in charge, often the most senior student: that person must then know they answer for the whole rent.

A house's bills weigh more than an apartment's: water, electricity, gas bottles in winter, upkeep of the courtyard. Set up a shared kitty and a split table from day one. Check the roof terrace, often the source of leaks in autumn, and the gate lock, as a shared house is more often empty during the day.

Neighbours and timing

In Sfax's residential districts, neighbours know each other. A group of students who respect the evening quiet fits in without trouble; otherwise, complaints reach the owner fast. Many houses are reserved for a single gender, which the listing usually states. Introduce yourselves to the immediate neighbours as soon as you move in: in Sfax, this simple gesture defuses many misunderstandings and will sometimes earn you a hand on the day the cistern or the gate fails.

Searches peak between July and September, before term starts. For a single room rather than a house, the flatshares in Sfax Ouest page groups rooms in family homes and shared apartments. And if the group prefers its own lease, the houses for rent in Sfax Ouest offer a much wider choice.