Individuals looking for a rental have great difficulty finding a property to rent. For students looking for accommodation before the start of the school year in September, the situation is very complicated.
Barely out of Parcoursup’, a new stage is emerging for students: finding accommodation. And very often, Back to university rhymes with hassle. If some manage to obtain Crous accommodation, the places are expensive. Last year, according to the site the studentmore than 350,000 requests had been made, for 173,000 places in Crous accommodation.
For the others, it is therefore necessary to turn to the private rental stock. And again, while this time of year is historically tight for the rental market, things are only getting worse.
“17% fewer rentals compared to last year”
It must be said that according to the Clameur observatory published in March 2023, one- and two-room apartments stay an average of only 15 days on ad sites. And in fact, many goods are going even faster. For many, the search for an apartment can quickly turn into a nightmare.
“Today, there is no renewal of the rental stock, explains Laëtitia Caron, general manager of PAP – Particulier à Particulier. It is estimated that there is 17% less rentals compared to last year, but a demand that is growing by 12% at the same time. Between the fall in supply and the rise in demand, the market is therefore even tighter than in previous years. »
Students in competition with first-time buyers
Because the residential path is normally cyclical: when they arrive on the job market, young people seek to buy a first property and therefore leave their apartment, which returns to the rental market. But today, for lack of being able to buy, these aspiring first-time buyers remain tenants while waiting for better days. It must be said that with rates rising in 18 months from 1% to 3.72% on average over 20 years, the real estate power of first-time buyers has melted like snow in the sun.
A problem that also impacts students, since they often position themselves on the same type of property as those sought by young workers. “Students are looking for small studio-type surfaces, two-room or even three-room apartments to share, confirms Laëtitia Caron. Gold, first-time buyers often drop two-room apartments or small three-room apartments. The current situation therefore inevitably has an impact on the student rental market. »
“Visiting an apartment is a bit like a job interview”
And the new bans following the entry into force of the Climate and Resilience Law calendar do not help matters. Since January 2023, the worst-classified properties in the energy performance diagnosis (EPD), can no longer be rented. And the DPEs G and F will be, respectively, prohibited for rental in 2025 and 2028.
Faced with this, “some owners put their property up for sale because they don’t have the means or the capacity to renovate it. All the conditions are therefore met for the search for accommodation to be more and more complicated for students, ”assures the general manager of PAP.
So it’s not easy to get out of the game. Laëtita Caron gives some advice to students to put the odds on their side: “Visiting an apartment is a bit like a job interview. You have to arrive on time for the appointment, give time to find it, take care of your presentation a little, be polite… the goal is to give confidence to the owner. »
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Find accommodation as soon as possible
As a reminder, students who do not have parents to act as guarantors can turn to the Visale guarantee, a guarantee that many owners are familiar with.
Finally, it is better, when possible, to do it quickly. “Many students wait until the last moment and the return to school in September to look, which can be understood because rent is expensive, concedes the director of PAP. But it’s really the most complicated period for finding apartments. I recommend to those who can anticipate research. »
And if you don’t have time to spend every minute on your computer waiting for a new property to appear, PAP has launched a new service, called “locathèque”, to facilitate your procedures.