Houses for rent in Gabès

In Gabès, people rent a house for the courtyard. A ground floor of your own, the roof terrace where you sometimes sleep on August nights, the garage door for the car: families in Gabès prefer this model to an apartment as soon as the budget allows. Finding a house for rent in Gabès still takes patience, though, because many owners still let through neighbours or family before publishing anything.

The listings on this page cover house rentals across the whole governorate, posted by private owners and sometimes an agency, whom you contact without a middleman. Supply varies from week to week and is richer in the town and its extensions than in the rural delegations. Choosing where to look starts with choosing between three types of house: the old dar in the centre, the recent estate house and the garden house in the oasis.

Old town, estates, oasis: three ways of living

In the old neighbourhoods of Gabès Medina and around Sidi Boulbaba, houses are terraced and single-storey, with rooms opening onto the courtyard. They are let to families who want schools and the market within walking distance, often at a moderate rent, in return for wiring and plumbing that need a close look.

The recent estates, in Zrig and in the western extension of the town, offer the three-bedroom house with a living room, fitted kitchen and garage, sometimes with a floor occupied by another family. It is the property most in demand among transferred civil servants and managers from the industrial zone, and the one that goes fastest. A house of this kind in good condition often rents for between 600 and 900 DT depending on size and neighbourhood; the houses for rent in Gabès Sud give the details. Many searches also name specific estates, such as Cité El Amal: mention the neighbourhood to the advertiser from the first call, as estate names do not always appear in the listing title.

In the oasis, from Chenini to Teboulbou, a house comes with a garden of palm and pomegranate trees. It appeals to people who work in town and want peace and quiet, but raises a question to settle in writing: who looks after the watering and the water rota, the tenant or the owner?

By the sea and for the summer

Searches for houses for rent by the sea in Gabès are among the most frequent. To be honest, the town has a frontage on the gulf, but no stock of holiday villas comparable to Djerba or Zarzis, and the northern coast, towards Ghanouch, is taken up by the port and the chemical complex. Houses near the sea are mainly south of town, and they are rarely let by the year.

What does exist is summer letting between families. From May to June, owners who have moved to Tunis or abroad offer their furnished house by the month for July and August, often to returning emigrants. These listings come out early and disappear fast. Put the dates, the total amount, the deposit paid and the inventory of condition in writing.

El Hamma and the interior: bigger for less

In El Hamma, the house is the normal home and the apartment the exception. For a rent close to that of an S+2 in Gabès, you can often find a whole house with a courtyard there, at the cost of a half-hour daily commute. Families with jobs locally or in the west of the governorate clearly come out ahead; see the houses for rent in El Hamma. Further south, Mareth and Matmata have few listings online, and renting there still happens mostly by word of mouth.

Before you sign

View a house in daylight, ideally at the hottest time of day: an uninsulated roof terrace makes the upper floor hard to live in during summer. Look for damp at the foot of the walls, common in the oasis and near the sea. Ask whether the STEG and SONEDE meters are in the owner's name and separate from those of any floor that is let.

The lease should be written and registered, with the term, the notice period and the deposit, generally one to two months' rent. Specify who pays for minor repairs, garden upkeep and the municipal tax. If a whole house is beyond your budget, the apartments for rent in the governorate of Gabès offer an alternative, and the national page of houses for rent in Tunisia lets you compare with other towns in the south.