Houses to rent in Bizerte Nord

In Bizerte the house season starts in May. Owners on the corniche and in Ain Mariam put their summer listings out, weekly rents climb, and families looking for a yearly lease find themselves competing with holidaymakers. After 15 September the market turns over: the same houses come back as long-term rentals, often cheaper than they were in June.

Understanding that calendar is the first thing to do before hunting for a house to rent in Bizerte. The second is deciding which side of the lifting bridge you want to live on. This page covers Bizerte Nord: the Medina, the corniche, the Bougatfa and Habib Haddad estates, Ain Mariam, Bhira. For Zarzouna, Menzel Bourguiba or Ras Jebel, use the houses to rent across the Bizerte governorate page.

Looking for a year-round house behind the corniche

Long-term house rental in Bizerte is concentrated in the residential estates behind the corniche. Cite Bougatfa, around the hospital, and cite Habib Haddad are lined with S+3 houses (three bedrooms plus a living room) with a garage, usually let unfurnished to families of civil servants, doctors or teachers posted to Bizerte. Ain Mariam, higher up the hill, has newer and pricier builds, with a view over the lake or the bay depending on which way the house faces.

A decent house in these estates generally goes for 700 to 1,200 DT a month, more if it is furnished or if it opens onto the sea. Renting a house in the Medina itself costs less, but you have to accept the stairs, the lack of a garage and sometimes the damp. And if the budget will not stretch, apartments to rent in Bizerte Nord remain cheaper, both in the centre and on the corniche.

The villa floor is the most common and the cheapest arrangement: the owner lives downstairs, you rent the upper level with its own entrance. It is also the most sensitive to who your neighbours are: shared garden, an owner who comes up unannounced, children on the stairs. A late-afternoon viewing tells you more than a long phone conversation.

By the day and by the week: the summer market

Renting a house in Bizerte by the day is mainly about the Corniche beach, Sidi Salem, or day trips out to Cap Blanc and Ras Enjela. The listings are on the corniche road, in Ain Mariam and in the few Medina houses that have been renovated for it. In July and August prices double compared with the rest of the year, and the best houses are booked from spring onwards by families from Tunis and from France.

Beyond two weeks, ask for a monthly rate instead. Plenty of owners prefer one reliable tenant for the whole season to a rotation of weekends.

What the listings do not always say

A house advertised in Bizerte with a sea view may have the sea 800 metres away and visible only from the roof terrace. Ask for photos taken from the living room. Check how exposed it is to the wind too: the front-row houses on the corniche take the north-westerly in winter, and heating them costs money.

For a house rented by the year in Bizerte, insist on a contract registered at the tax office. That is what protects you if the property is sold or if there is a disagreement over the deposit, and it is often required for administrative paperwork.

Other options on Houni

If your plan is to stay, take a look at houses for sale in Bizerte Nord: set against ten years of rent, the sums are worth doing.