The first wave of Parcoursup results falls this Thursday, May 30. Many high school students will thus discover in which cities they will settle down at the start of the next school year. But after the stress of results for their future school, many of them risk being faced with the anxiety of looking for an apartment. Because it is clear that the complicated situation in the real estate market seems to be having an impact on the supply of student accommodation. To anticipate the trouble that awaits students and parents, LocService has published a study analyzing tension levels by city.
Unsurprisingly, Paris remains the most expensive student city. Expect an average rent of 907 euros for a studio in the City of Lights. Ile-de-France residents are not spoiled, with 9 of the 10 most expensive student towns located in Île-de-France. On average in France, renting a studio costs 550 euros, charges included.
But high rents do not necessarily mean a tighter rental market for students. As proof, it is Lyon which takes first place, with the highest housing tension index in France (4.86) according to LocService. A figure which means that there are almost 5 times more requests for student accommodation than there are offers.
The capital of the Gone is followed by Rennes (4.17) and Bordeaux (3.93). Paris only comes in fourth place, with an index of 3.75. But the capital marks its return to the forefront of the most tense cities, while it was only in 10e position in 2023. “We are witnessing the end of the impact of the health crisis,” notes Yvan Thiébault, editorial manager of LocService. Workers and students had deserted the Paris region to go into exile in the provinces. Paris is once again in high demand. »
In terms of type of accommodation, studios and T1s (61%) are the most sought after by students, far ahead of T2s (18%) and even shared accommodation (8%). Small spaces which are becoming rarer on the rental market while the number of students remains stable (-0.5% expected at the start of the next school year, according to the Ministry of Higher Education). “The reduction in rental supply can be explained by the rise in interest rates, the ban on renting thermal strainers And the increase in tourist rentals », explains Yvan Thiébault.
Also, the phenomenon of decohabitation would have a significant impact: the number of people per household has continued to decline for 40 years in France, going from 3.08 people per household in 1968 to 2.17 in 2020 according to INSEE. A phenomenon which can be explained in particular by the increase in divorces, which automatically leads to an increase in demand for smaller accommodation, eating into the supply popular with students.
So, faced with an increasingly tense student market, the techniques to adopt are simple: get started as early as possible and take care of your file. “At the moment there are still a lot of offers in stock,” confides Yvan Thiébault. It’s a good time to start looking, because demand will soon explode with the results from Parcoursup. »