Houses for rent in El Mourouj

El Mourouj was built on plots sold by the AFH and SNIT housing agencies: 150 to 300 m2 lots on which families put up a ground floor, then a first floor, sometimes a second. As a result, a house for rent here usually means an independent villa floor with its own entrance, with the owner living downstairs. That is the local quirk, and it is why you will find more houses to rent in El Mourouj than anywhere else in Tunis's southern suburbs.

The listings on houni.tn come from private owners and local agencies. A house to rent in Mourouj is negotiated directly with the advertiser: Houni displays the listing, the viewing and the contract are between you and them.

Mourouj 1 and Mourouj 3, where supply is densest

Mourouj 1 is the oldest and best-equipped sector: Carrefour hypermarket, market, secondary school, light-rail metro station. A house for rent in Mourouj 1 mostly attracts families who want a garage and a terrace without depending on a car to reach Tunis. The houses are thirty years old or more; check the plumbing and the waterproofing of the roof terrace before committing.

Mourouj 3, a little further out towards Fouchana, was parcelled later and the buildings are more uniform. A house for rent in Mourouj 3 is typically a two-storey home on a 200 m2 plot, with a small front garden and the garage under the upper floor. The streets are wide and quiet, parking is not an issue, and El Mourouj's urban park is a few minutes' walk from most streets.

Mourouj 5, Mourouj 6 and Bir Kassaa: newer and more spread out

Mourouj 6 has been in demand for about ten years. The villas are more recent, often with an independent upper floor fitted with its own kitchen, and a house for rent in Mourouj 6 costs more than elsewhere in the delegation: the standard is higher, and so are the finishes. It is also the sector people look at among houses for sale in El Mourouj when they want to stop renting. The trade-off is that the metro is far away and local shops are thinner on the ground than in Mourouj 1.

Mourouj 5 forms the link with Fouchana and the M'hamdia road. You will find simpler estate houses there, at gentler rents, and quite a few ground floors with a courtyard. Bir Kassaa, around the wholesale market, has a handful of family houses, but the atmosphere is more industrial and the streets double as parking for the market's lorries.

Typical rents for a house in El Mourouj

The figures below come from listings published in recent months and shift with the season. A quick note on local shorthand: S+2 means two bedrooms plus a living room, S+3 three bedrooms plus a living room, and so on.

• An S+2 villa floor with independent entrance: often between 700 and 1,000 DT a month.
• An S+3 on an upper floor, or a whole estate house in Mourouj 1, 3 or 5: more like 1,000 to 1,400 DT.
• A complete villa in Mourouj 6, with garden and closed garage: frequently above 1,500 DT.

A furnished house for rent in Mourouj remains rare: the vast majority are let unfurnished, and the owner asks for two months' deposit plus the first month's rent, with a contract registered at the tax office (recette des finances). For the same floor area, apartments for rent in El Mourouj generally work out cheaper.

What to check on site

Sharing a house with the owner on the ground floor is common in El Mourouj, and it works well as long as the meters are separate. Ask whether the water (SONEDE) and electricity (STEG) have their own subscription for the upper floor: when they do not, splitting the bills quickly becomes a source of friction.

Come by on a weekday around 6 pm to gauge the evening traffic back from Tunis, especially around the Mourouj 1 and Mourouj 2 roundabouts. Radès, Ezzahra and Hammam Lif are covered on houses for rent in the Ben Arous governorate.