Accommodation is not an easy task, even less so when it comes to obtaining student accommodation for a short period, as part of an internship for example. Business Cool shares with you all the good student tips for finding an apartment easily!
Find student accommodation for a short time is not always easy! Whether for an internship, a work-study program, for a semester or an exchange, it is often complex to find accommodation, even more so when you have to find an apartment for only a few months. Indeed, in France, the minimum duration of a lease is one year for furnished accommodation and three years for unfurnished accommodation. This can be reduced for nine months if the tenant is a student. However, don’t panic! Solutions exist.
How to find accommodation for a short period?
You need to find short-term student accommodation. Know that it is possible! First of all, you should know that it is possible to break a lease at any time, as long as you respect the notice period which depends on the area in which you live. If you are in a so-called “tense” area, you must notify your landlord one month in advance. This notice period extends to three months in other areas of French territory.
Thanks to the ELAN law, you can now apply for a mobility lease. This is concluded for a maximum period of ten months and is not renewable. It is only aimed at certain types of tenants: workers in training, students, work-study students, interns. That’s good! You are part of it. Thus, it is possible, thanks to this mobility lease, to find accommodation only for the duration of a three or six month internship.
The great advantage of the mobility lease is that it allows you to rent student accommodation in Paris or any other city, without any security deposit. You can also benefit from the Visale system, which allows you to rent a room or accommodation without a guarantor or deposit.
Solutions for accommodation during your internship
With the rise of mobility leases made possible by the ELAN law, new platforms now allow you to find student accommodation easily. This is particularly the case with Studapart, which allows you to obtain a short-term rental, with a lease of at least one month. The platform offers 107,000 housing advertisements in Paris, but also in the rest of France: Montpellier, Bordeaux, Grenoble, etc.
If you want to find accommodation for your internship, you can also turn to the CROUS student residences. These offer places for short-term rentals. In this case, these are mainly university rooms of 9m² to 15m² in which you find a single bed and a bathroom.
Private student residences also exist for short-term rentals. However, in most cases, these buildings only offer one room with one bed, with a shared kitchen and bathroom for all tenants on a floor.
Finally, don’t hesitate to reach out to your school or university network. Maybe a friend of a friend can host you temporarily or lend you their apartment while they go on an internship in another city. He may also have a room available in his shared accommodation.
Student accommodation: how to save money on your move?
Before moving to another city with the support of Studapart or your friends, don’t forget that you can benefit from assistance. Some metropolises or regions offer you mobility aids, whether you move into an apartment or a residence. In 2021, the amount of this aid was capped at 400 euros. This will allow you to advance certain costs related to the deposit or the move.
But after moving in, you need to furnish your home. Here again, do not hesitate to find out about the assistance offered in your region. In Paris, it is possible to receive up to 1,000 euros, just to decorate your interior! This aid, entitled AILE, starts at 500 euros and you can benefit from it as soon as you are on a scholarship.
How to find accommodation for an internship abroad?
If you want to strengthen your professional experience and your level in a foreign language, the internship abroad is the system made for you! Finding accommodation in another country is not always an easy task. However, you should not hesitate to consult the network of graduates and students at your school or university. It can be very useful for finding all the good housing deals in a city.
Another tip: a room with a local. This type of temporary accommodation for students is quite easily found in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries. This is a very good alternative, with shared accommodation, to avoid having to pay too high rent.
Finally, some universities also offer student residences. Here again, rooms and accommodation are open to foreign students who move for a short period of time, for an internship, or even a university exchange.
