Houses for rent in Beni Hassen

The house is the natural home in Beni Hassen. In this rural delegation of the inland Sahel, between olive groves and small towns, people live on one level, around a courtyard, with a roof terrace where the washing dries and where people go up on summer evenings. A house to rent in Beni Hassen is often the house of a family settled elsewhere, in Tunis, Sousse or Europe, who would rather see it lived in than shut eleven months out of twelve.

Listings are published by these owners themselves, sometimes by a relative still living locally who shows people round. Supply varies, and a good house does not stay online for long. On Houni, you call the advertiser directly. For more choice, the houses to rent in the Monastir governorate cover every delegation, from the coast to the interior.

The typical house and its variants

Most houses on offer are ground floor homes on a plot of a few hundred square metres: two or three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a shower room, an enclosed courtyard and sometimes a garage. Many have a roof slab designed for an upper floor that was never built, which does not bother the tenant but explains the steel rods sticking up from the roof.

Older houses, in the heart of the towns, keep a layout around a patio, with thick walls that hold the coolness in summer. They are often bigger and cheaper, but you have to accept ageing plumbing and wiring. At the other end, the villa built by an emigrant family, with careful tiling, a fitted kitchen, sometimes a garden, lets for more and more rarely, as its owners keep it for their August holidays.

Who rents a house here

The families of civil servants posted to the delegation are the first tenants: teachers, health staff, administrative employees. They want a house close to the centre and the schools, on a yearly let. Next come families from the region who move back and rent while they build, and a few households working in the Jemmal or Moknine business zones who prefer a rural rent to a dearer apartment in town.

If a whole house is more than you need, a floor or an S+2 (two bedrooms plus a living room) costs less and is easier to heat; the apartments to rent in Beni Hassen gather those listings. On the site, houses may appear under the delegation or under the Hatem and Ghnada areas: have the address confirmed before travelling.

Rent and points to check

A family house often lets for between 350 and 600 DT a month, more for a recent, well equipped villa, less for an old house away from the centre. A cheap house rental in the Monastir area is easier to find here than on the coast, but the saving is sometimes paid for in travel.

During the viewing, check the waterproofing of the roof terrace, signs of damp at the foot of the walls and the state of the tank or the water connection. Ask whether the house is connected to the sewer network or relies on a septic tank, which is still common in rural areas. Finally, check that the STEG and SONEDE meters are in the owner's name with no arrears.

A written lease is essential, with the term, the amount, the deposit (usually one month) and who handles minor repairs. When the owner lives abroad, ask who represents them locally and who deals with a leak or a breakdown.

Calendar and length of stay

Houses of emigrant families come free mostly in September, after the holidays, and that is also the month of transfers. A search started in July finds little; the end of August and September are the weeks to watch. Some owners prefer a lease of several years to a higher rent: a stable tenant looks after the house and stops it standing empty.

If the experience convinces you to settle, the houses for sale in Beni Hassen are listed on a separate page.