Apartments for rent in Manouba

An S+2 let at 650 DT in Denden would fetch 900 DT in Le Bardo, two metro stops away. That gap sums up the Manouba rental market: you pay less for an almost identical distance from Tunis, provided you accept a newer but thinner stock of apartment blocks concentrated on a few main roads. For anyone new to the local shorthand, S+1 means one bedroom plus a living room, S+2 two bedrooms plus a living room. The delegation still has few residences compared with its houses, and that is why the good apartments go fast.

On houni.tn the listings come from the owners themselves and from a handful of Denden agencies; to widen the search to Oued Ellil or Douar Hicher, the apartments for rent in Manouba governorate page covers the whole area.

Denden, along the metro line

The Denden residences were built around the light-rail stations and the Tébourba road. An apartment to rent in Manouba in this sector is usually an S+2 of 80 to 100 sqm in a four or five storey building, with or without a lift, at 600 or 750 DT. The S+1 units go to young couples and to teaching staff from the campus; the S+3 units, rarer, to families leaving a villa floor in Le Bardo that has become too expensive.

Manouba centre and Cité Ennasr: the recent schemes

The centre, around the town hall and out to Manouba's Cité Ennasr, has seen several developer residences go up since 2012, with underground parking and a caretaker. That is where an S+3 in Manouba makes sense: 110 to 130 sqm, a terrace and two bathrooms for 800 to 1,000 DT. Furnished units are few and often aimed at foreign lecturers posted to the university.

One question comes up again and again with tenants: is the building actually managed? Many recent Manouba blocks still have no active management company, and a broken lift stays broken for a long time. On the day of the viewing, walk up to the top floor and look at the state of the communal areas. It tells you a lot very quickly.

Where there is no apartment block, there is the villa floor

Where apartment blocks are missing, floors of houses take over. An S+2 house in Manouba is most often the first floor of a family house in Ksar Said or Denden Sud, with its own entrance, a separate kitchen and a terrace, at around 500 to 650 DT. No service charges, no lift either, and an owner on the ground floor who will be an asset or a constraint depending on the case. For a family with children it is often the cheapest option in the delegation.

Four pieces of advice before renting in Manouba

• View on a weekday at 8am: the Tébourba road and the approach to Le Bardo clog up, and you will not hear the noise of a busy street on a Saturday afternoon.
• Ask for the last STEG electricity bill: meters shared between floors are common in subdivided houses.
• Walk away from any Manouba apartment offered "without a contract", whatever the rent: with no registration you have no recourse in a dispute.
• Negotiate the move-in date: outside the back-to-school period, a landlord with an empty flat for two months will happily take 30 to 50 DT less.

The full offer, houses and rooms included, is on the homes to rent in Manouba page; anyone wanting to compare with buying should look at the apartments for sale in Manouba.