Find a Comfy Nest - An Exhaustive Guide for Settling in Toulouse

Finding a place in France is challenging. The bureaucracy, the location and the amenities... it is very difficult to know how to find a nice and comfy accommodation! From A to D, there are the 4 steps for you to find a flat in Toulouse!

A for Area

When looking for an accommodation, the most important thing is to know where are the safe neighbourhoods. Articles or forums are great sources but information might not be accurate, sometimes. In Toulouse, city centre, Jean Jaurès is a very nice and safe 'quartier' (French word for district). Boutiques, restaurants and supermarkets are all round within walking distance. However, the rent is probably the highest in Toulouse.

Quartiers around the city centre are highly recommended. St. Cyprien, Carmes, Campas Caffarelli and Palais de Justice are also very popular among exchange students because of its accessibility to city centre and universities. There are also restaurants, supermarkets in these areas. Of course, the rent might still be a bit high but I would say, it's worth it to live in a safe neighbourhood!

There are places that you might not want to live at in Toulouse. Empalot, Bagatelle et Le Mirail (where Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès is) are the three worst areas to live in Toulouse as they have quite a bad reputation.

B for Beware

When you look into any sort of accommodation in France, do remember that not all the amenities are included. For example, sometimes, there might not be Wi-Fi in your accommodation and you need to buy a RJ45 cable to connect your computer to Internet access.

If you go for CROUS, Internet access is only available when you have your student account opened, which will take around 1 week. So beware that you will not have any Internet access in your CROUS accommodation in your first or even second week.

Some accommodation, especially when you rent a flat, might not have onsite laundry services, or washing machine. You might have to go to a nearby launderette to do your laundry.

If you are applying for private accommodation, flat-sharing, you might be able to ask the landlord what will be provided or what will not. If you choose to live in a CROUS accommodation, things are not that clearly stated in the contract and you might have to take a risk!

Also, bear in mind the photos of the rooms or accommodation you find online might be 'touched-up'!

C for Choices

There are several types of accommodation you can choose from, including flat-renting/ flat-sharing, private student residences and CROUS. They all have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Flat-renting or sharing (Loyer un appartement ou Colocation) is an excellent idea as you have full autonomy in choosing where you live, whether living with others or alone or what kind of amenities you would like to have in your accommodation. The downsides are that they tend to be pricy if you want to live near the city centre; landlords might not respond to enquiries and available flats come and go so quickly in the market.

Best advice is to start looking for a flat in May and my great friend suggests Appartager for flat-hunting. Erasmusus, Le Bon Coin and La Carte des Colocs are also some of a few good online platforms for searching for flats.

Private Student Residences (Résidences étudiants privés) are very popular among exchange students as well because of its high quality service and rooms. Onsite laundry and WI-FI are often included. However, they are very popular and quite expensive.

You can keep an eye on Adele, a site for private student accommodation.

CROUS or Cité U is a government-run university accommodation. Prices are very reasonable and very easy to apply. Students living in CROUS are automatically entitled to benefit from CAF (excluding international Erasmus students: Check out International Erasmus Student: Very Important for Studying Abroad aka VISA).

However, the administrative staff (le sécretariat) are very rude and disrespectful and some of rooms are very old and dirty. Things inside the accommodation could be broken and it takes quite a long time for the wardens or technicians to repair them. However, some staff I met are very friendly and give you a helping hand when you in need (Shout out to Christophe who helped me a lot when moving in!)

If you choose to live in CROUS, you do not have a choice on where you live and you might end up living in an undesirable neighbourhood. Yet, rooms nowadays are under renovation and the refurbished ones look quite nice and new, yet very small (9m2).

D for Documents

If you are opting for CROUS-provided accommodation, you will receive an offer from CROUS with a contract. After you have the first-month rent through their online system, you will automatically be given a list of documents you need to mail it back to the Company. Apart from a mailing the signed contract and registration forms which are attached together in the same email, you must also provide:

- 3 photos

- Copy of your identity document (passport for international student, European identity card for European student)

- A Visale certificate (www.visale.fr)

Before your arrival.

It is very strict that in France, unless you have a guarantor who is a French citizen and pay the tax, you are legally not allowed to rent an accommodation in France. Often, exchange students, who do not have relatives or friends living in France, will go for Visale, a government-run organisation that acts like a 'guarantor'.

The main perk about this system is that you do not need to pay anything for it. This method is highly recommended to exchange students as it is the quickest and the most cost-free way to get a guarantor in France.

To be eligible:

- Students must be between 18 and 30 years of age.

- Students who require a visa for study in France must have obtained a long-stay visa with residency permit (VLS-TS) marked "étudiant" or "passeport talent".

- Students who are citizens of a member country of the European Union need only a student ID card and a valid passport.

Exchange students staying in private student residences or flats could also apply for it since many landlords accept that as a guarantor.

If you live in CROUS, you will also need to provide Student Enrolment Certificate (Certificat de scolarité) and Insurance Certificate (Attestation d'assurance habitation) either before or 2 weeks after your arrival.

That's all for today! If you have any enquiries, tips or even experience on travelling abroad for studying, please comment below!

Bon Courage!

Shiuology

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