The struggle has been going on for months. In this month of the new school year, it even persists for some students still looking for accommodation. A situation that drives many parents crazy, unable to find a home for their child without bleeding themselves every month to pay the rent. Already under high tension during the last school year, Rennes is one of those cities where it is almost impossible to find accommodation when you are a student. The reasons are multiple: the city is attractive, the number of schools is increasing and the number of rental apartments is decreasing, with many owners preferring to sell before the ban on renting thermal strainers on January 1, 2025.
“I saw people crying,” testified last year the manager of a Rennes real estate agency. The situation seems even worse for this 2023 school year. According to Crous Bretagne, there is a shortage of “at least 1,500 student accommodations” in university residences for a total of 72,000 students in the metropolis. “Last year, we had three requests for accommodation. This year, we have gone to four requests for accommodation, ”says Koupaia Latimier, director of student life at Crous.
Result: only scholarship holders with the highest levels (5, 6 and 7) can hope for a room or a studio. For the others, you have to turn to the private market, where offers have become scarce. The fault, too, of short-term Airbnb-type rentals, which are more and more numerous. The 5,000 new homes delivered each year by the metropolis are not enough in a metropolis that flirts with the 500,000 inhabitants.