While the new academic year has begun, many students are still struggling to find accommodation.
Others ended up finding a solution, not without difficulty.
With four requests on average for an offer, Lyon is the second city in France where the real estate tension is the strongest on student housing.
Some students confided in
20 Minutes
to tell their obstacle course.
An ad posted on Leboncoin and “100 messages received in three minutes”.
The shippers?
“Almost only students,” observes Florian.
Her friend, who owns a home in Lyon, put it up for rent on the Internet.
The surprise was great for the couple who did not expect such a tidal wave in such a short time.
"The testimonies of these students are quite worrying," says Florian.
Higher rents, Airbnb apartments rented for up to 1,000 euros per week… Most young people, not having the means to comply with the financial demands of landlords, found themselves in the water a few days before their return to school university.
"Some have explained to us that they have to pay for a hotel room", continues Florian.
Four requests for one offer
Rising demand, scarcity of supply: competition is fierce in the major cities of France.
But more particularly in Lyon.
With four requests on average for an offer, the capital of Gaul is the second city in France, after Angers, where the real estate tension is the strongest on student accommodation, according to the LocService platform.
It is also the most expensive, according to the annual study by Fage, Federation of General Studies Associations.
It takes an average of 683 euros per month to find accommodation between Rhône and Saône, or 12 euros more than in Ile-de-France.
“My budget here is 500 euros maximum,” explains Aylin, who lived in Geneva, Switzerland.
The student had to take her troubles patiently before finding accommodation in Lyon.
Convinced of finding “good deals” cheaper than in real estate agencies, the young woman first focused her research on social networks.
Without much success.
"On Facebook, I saw 80 or 100 ads scrolling by but I never applied because, each time, there were already at least 40 comments from people who were also looking," she explains.
It was super discouraging.
»
Originally from Lille, studying in Lyon and alternating in Paris
"If I send a message 15 minutes after an ad is posted, it's already dead," says 22-year-old Kevin.
To date, he still has not found a solution.
His situation is complex.
Originally from Lille, he moved to Lyon this summer for his studies.
At the moment, he lives in a shared apartment in a Crous apartment for a "little less than 300 euros per month" but he is also looking for a roof in Paris, where he will do his work-study program.
To put all his chances aside, the boy uses the Jinka application which centralizes all the offers offered by the platforms.
“A few minutes ago, I received a call from a real estate agency offering me a visit during the week.
The problem is that during the week, I am in class in Lyon…”, he laments.
“The last time I wanted to block a visit slot, I was disturbed on the phone.
Three minutes later, the six slots were already taken.
If you don't answer within seconds, it's too late.
»
Unable to spend more than 800 euros per month in Paris (in addition to 300 euros in Lyon), Kevin chose to focus his research on "the inner suburbs", more precisely the Val de Marne, the north of 'Essonne and the Hauts de Seine.
"There, the agencies respond more easily and the apartments are cheaper," he says.
One out of three requests met at Crous
“For me, it was a nightmare”, summarizes Davide, 28-year-old Italian.
Today, he shares a shared social apartment with “20-year-old students”, for lack of having found individual accommodation.
“As of July, I looked on sites like Leboncoin or La Carte des colocs.
Overall I got few responses.
But when I ended up having one, I couldn't move to Lyon right away, he says.
So, I was told that if I couldn't come and visit, we wouldn't sign the lease.
I had a budget of 700-750 euros per month but I couldn't find anything, not even a studio available.
»
Aisling, a 27-year-old Irishwoman, has followed the same obstacle course.
"I didn't think it would be so difficult to find accommodation," she says.
For foreign students, it is very difficult.
We are asked for a lot of papers, nothing is really explained and the people are not very welcoming.
»
Landed from Brittany, Clément, aged 24, nevertheless experienced the same galley.
“I never imagined it would be so complicated.
So he decided to throw a bottle into the sea. His method: walk the streets of Lyon with a sign around his neck to attract attention and provoke fate.
In the meantime, he slept in a youth hostel, then "squatted" on his friends' couch.
Knock on the door of the Crous?
Wasted effort.
The organization barely manages to satisfy one out of three requests.
The roommate as a solution
"It's too difficult", abounds Davide whose salvation went through the agency "My new city".
But there again, things were not easy.
“I had found a plane ticket to arrive in Lyon on September 15.
The problem is that the agency wanted me to be present on September 12, otherwise they offered the place to others, ”explains the Italian student forced to adapt so as not to see the offer escape him once again. .
"I had the space but in the end, I stayed a week without hot water or electricity," he laments.
Discouraged by the absence of answers and the competition, Aislin fell back on stays in Airbnb but at what price.
"I paid two months' rent, or 800 euros, for barely two weeks," she testifies.
Recently, the young woman has found a solution far from her ideal.
“I would have liked to have a studio in order to be quiet and alone in the evening, but I live with two other roommates aged 17 and 24.
On the other hand, I pay 405 euros per month, I'm doing well..."
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