Offices and shops for rent in Kairouan

In Kairouan, commercial activity follows three different logics. There is tourist and craft trade around the medina, driven by carpets, copperware and pastries. There is neighbourhood trade, set up on the ground floor of houses throughout the city. And there is agricultural trade, depots for fertiliser, seed and irrigation equipment, which lives along the roads out of town and in the towns of the plain.

This page groups together the commercial premises, warehouses, practices and offices for rent across the governorate. Listings are posted by owners or agencies, and you contact them directly. Supply is limited in some weeks and many premises change hands through contacts: checking often and calling quickly remains the best method.

Medina, city centre and neighbourhoods

Shops in the souks and in the streets leading to the medina gates are rarely let through a listing. When one becomes free, it interests carpet dealers, craftsmen and makroudh sellers who work with visitors to the Great Mosque. Custom there is seasonal: strong in spring, in autumn and during the Mouled, much weaker in the height of summer.

The modern centre, with its shopping avenues and administrations, concentrates upper-floor offices, medical practices, agencies and equipment stores. A unit on a busy avenue rents for more than in a residential area, and parking quickly becomes a selling point. In the housing estates, finally, a street-level unit of a few dozen square metres remains the most common format, for a grocery, a bakery or a hair salon. The premises for rent in Kairouan Sud illustrate this neighbourhood supply well.

Roads out of town and farming towns

Along the roads to Sousse, Haffouz or Sbikha, people mainly look for floor space: a depot for storage, a shed for an aluminium joinery workshop, a garage for mechanics. Rents there are lower than in the city, and truck access matters more than a shop window.

In the towns, Bouhajla, Haffouz, Sbikha or El Alaa, demand revolves around farming and basic services. A livestock feed depot, a parts shop for pumps and tractors, a pharmacy or a medical practice finds its customers across several villages. The weekly market day often makes the week's takings: a unit on the square or on the street leading to it is worth more than its size suggests. Before signing, visit on a market morning and on an ordinary day: the difference in footfall says a lot about the turnover you can expect.

Commercial lease and points to watch

Commercial premises are let under a written lease stating the term, the rent, how it is reviewed and the permitted activity. After a few years of trading, Tunisian law protects the tenant, which explains why some owners ask for a large advance or offer a short first lease. Negotiate the activity clause from the start: a unit let for retail cannot always host a workshop or a restaurant.

If an outgoing tenant asks for key money, make sure the business really exists, that the accounts or at least the customer base justify it, and that the owner agrees to the transfer in writing. Before signing, check the capacity of the electricity meter, especially for refrigerated counters or machinery, the drainage, the condition of the metal shutter and whether the frontage complies with municipal requirements, which are stricter around the listed medina.

Renting or building your own premises

Many established traders end up building their own walls, in the city or beside a road out of town. The land for sale in Kairouan governorate gives an idea of the cost of a well-placed plot. For those arriving from another city who also need somewhere to live, the homes to rent in Kairouan include floors above shops, handy for living next to your business.