Homes for rent in El Kabaria

El Kabaria is the south of Tunis as the people who live there know it: tight streets, houses raised floor by floor over the years, shops at street level and rooftops where the washing dries. The delegation covers El Kabaria proper, with its numbered sectors such as El Kabaria 4, the Ibn Sina 1 and Ibn Sina 2 estates and Cite Ennour. It borders El Ouardia to the north and stops at the edge of Ben Arous governorate. People come here for one simple reason: the rent.

This page gathers everything let in the delegation, flats and houses together. Supply online is thin, very few listings, nearly all posted by private owners letting a floor of their own house. You call the owner directly, with no middleman. To widen the search to neighbouring districts, all the properties to rent in Tunis governorate fit on a single page.

What actually gets let in El Kabaria

The typical home is not a flat in a residential block, it is a floor of a house. An owner builds the ground floor for his family, then adds a first floor, sometimes a second, and lets it until a son gets married. The result is S+1 and S+2 flats (one or two bedrooms plus a living room) with their own entrance up an outside staircase, a separate kitchen, and rarely a very large living room. Small blocks of three or four storeys built to let also exist, mostly along the shopping streets.

Alongside them, a few whole houses come up for rent, usually ground floors with a courtyard, let to families who want to stay in the area. Anyone after a whole house only can go straight to the houses to rent in El Kabaria, where supply is thinner still.

Ibn Sina, Cite Ennour, Kabaria: choosing a sector

Ibn Sina 1 and Ibn Sina 2 are the most sought-after sectors in the delegation. The buildings are a little more orderly, the streets wider in places, and the roads towards the centre and Ben Arous make commuting easier. An S+2 on these estates usually rents for a bit more than in the heart of El Kabaria, without reaching the levels of El Menzah or Ariana.

Cite Ennour and the El Kabaria sectors such as El Kabaria 4 have the lowest rents. The fabric is denser, the roads uneven, and some lanes are too narrow for a car. In return, an S+1 there often goes for a price you no longer see elsewhere in the governorate. It is where young couples, workers from the southern industrial zones and families from the interior settle when they want to stay within reach of work.

Broadly, rents in the delegation rarely exceed those of neighbouring El Ouardia and stay far below the town centre or the northern suburbs. They vary mainly with the floor, the standard of finish and whether there is a separate meter.

Viewing, signing, moving in

Renting in El Kabaria is negotiated face to face, often on the landing. Before committing, ask three questions. Are the water and electricity meters separate from the owner's? If not, put in writing how the bills will be shared. How many months in advance and how much deposit are required? One month's deposit plus the first month's rent is the usual practice, but some landlords ask for more. Finally, will the contract be written and registered at the tax office? That document is what protects you if there is a dispute.

During the viewing, check the roof if you are renting the top floor: a badly sealed slab lets water through with the first autumn rains. Check the ventilation too, because in the narrow streets some rooms never see the sun and damp sets in over winter.

The right time to look

The local rental market moves mostly at the end of summer and in September, when families move before school starts and yearly contracts come to an end. It is also when competition is fiercest: a decent listing goes within a few days. In winter there is less on offer, but owners are more willing to negotiate. If you plan to stay a long time, note that an apartment for sale in El Kabaria costs much less than elsewhere in Tunis, and some tenants end up buying the floor they live on.