Homes for rent in Siliana

Renting in Siliana governorate often means renting far from home. Applicants are families of transferred civil servants, technicians brought in for a building project or a farming season, young people from the region leaving the family home for a first job. Each weighs up three things: distance to work, floor space and rent. Depending on the delegation, the answer is not the same at all.

This page brings together every kind of rental in Siliana, whole houses, villa floors and apartments, across the whole governorate. Supply is denser in the main town, sparser in the market towns, and varies from week to week. Some homes are still let by word of mouth, which makes it worth checking listings regularly rather than just once.

The north of the governorate, facing Tunis

Bou Arada, El Aroussa, Gaâfour and El Krib form the most agricultural part of the governorate and the closest to the capital. These are plain towns surrounded by cereal fields, where most rentals are whole houses: a ground floor on a walled plot, a courtyard, sometimes a garage. Apartments are the exception. For a household where one partner works in the region and the other travels regularly to Tunis, Bou Arada or Gaâfour offer a compromise the main town cannot.

Rents here are among the lowest in the governorate. A house for rent on the northern side of Siliana, with two bedrooms and a courtyard, often costs the same as a small flat in the main town. The trade-off is choice: when a decent house becomes free, it goes quickly, often to a neighbour or a relative.

The main town, where choice is widest

Siliana town offers almost every option. Houses in the newer neighbourhoods suit families with a car, villa floors give a private entrance for a rent close to that of a flat, and the small blocks in the centre attract single people who want to walk to the office. Details on the town and the countryside towards Jama are on the page of accommodation for rent in Siliana Nord.

If you are only looking for an apartment, the page of apartments for rent in Siliana governorate sorts the supply and explains how house floors are presented there.

Makthar and the south: old houses, long winters

In the south, Makthar is the governorate's second town and the base for Kesra, Rouhia and Bargou. The housing stock is older, with low thick-walled houses and a few recent builds on the outskirts. A yearly rental costs little here, but upland winters are long: ask how the house is heated, whether the roof has been redone and whether the windows close properly. A low rent does not make up for three months of damp cold.

In the villages, Kesra first among them, supply is usually limited to an empty family house that the owners let to a teacher or a health worker. These homes are a stopgap, provided you have a car and check the water supply. In summer, cuts are more frequent in hilltop localities, and a tank on the roof or a buried cistern makes a real difference to daily life. Ask too whether the road stays passable in snow or heavy rain.

What to settle before signing

A cheap rental in Siliana remains a good deal if the sensitive points are settled in writing. The contract sets the rent, the term, the deposit and the inventory; it is registered at the tax office for a modest fee. In a whole house, the tenant often takes on the water tank, the courtyard and the roof terrace: agree on who pays for waterproofing or the pump if it breaks down. In a floor, have the meter sharing spelled out.

For a stay of several years, also run the numbers on buying: the page of property for sale in Siliana governorate gives an idea of what a house costs in the same towns. On Houni, each listing is posted by a private owner or an agency, whom you call directly.