2023-04-24 11:25:22
“I was necessarily looking for a roommate, I had stayed in residences and boarding schools in Quebec, I did not want to leave this way of life in the community”. When Guillaume returned to France in June 2022, he sought accommodation in the Paris region. “I had done college and high school in the Yvelines, I knew the price of real estate in Paris and its small areas. » By chance, on The flatmates card, he comes across a proposal for a community in a large house in the suburbs with a garden, but he finds it “a bit messy”: “I didn’t know the concept”, he recalls. He exchanges with the box loaded with the house and takes the plunge.
Today, he lives with 12 other roommates in a huge house in Maisons-Alfort, at the foot of the metro. “Of course there is more rotation at 13 than at 3, but it is taken into account,” he smiles.
In 2021, 46% of the 734,000 Parisian students do not live with their parents, more than half in other major cities in France, according to INSEE. With only 174,000 rooms in Cité U, a large majority of students are forced to turn to private rental accommodation. Over the past ten years, other forms of housing have been developed. Among them, the co-living, straddling the giant roommate and the thematic community, all inclusive, at prices similar to some private student residences. “We rather call it the cool living,” jokes Alexis Ducoulombier, who set up IvyNest with his childhood friend, Luke Toulemonde.
Their company, born in 2021, manages about fifteen huge houses in the Lille suburbs, one specifically reserved for students in the center of Lille. Both 27 years old and fresh out of IAE and EDHEC, they built their offer based on their own, sometimes complicated, experience of shared accommodation and finding an apartment: “We offer students and young working people to easily and quickly access accommodation, sometimes in 3 days”, smiles Alexis. The principle is simple, they have huge houses renovated on behalf of their owners and then set up modern and more spacious shared apartments than classic shared apartments, proportional to the large size of the pavilions.
All-inclusive rates
They are not alone on the market and many cities are beginning to have completely redesigned and renovated apartments: Paris and the suburbs of course, Angers, Toulouse, Marseille, Lille or even Rennes, initiatives are multiplying. Home, 400 roommates in 30 houses throughout the Paris region, is one of the big names in the sector. The houses, 400 square meters of living space, accommodate an average of 12 roommates. “They have a garden, and everyone has their own bathroom and toilet,” says Laetitia Bardet, marketing manager for La Casa, where students represent around 10% of roommates.
“The garden is 280 square meters and is super well laid out, we have a wooden terrace, a living room, an outdoor kitchen with a plancha and four areas allocated to the vegetable garden”, lists Guillaume. Services that have a cost, but which correspond to certain housing budgets. In 2022, that of students reached 786 euros in the Paris region, 858 in intramural Paris, and 613 euros on average in France according to the LocService agency. In coliving, the bill for a room varies between 835 and just over 1000 euros per month at La Casa. From 620 euros for a room in a house renovated by IvyNest in Roubaix, a stone’s throw from EDHEC.
Bonus, “the amount takes into account insurance, electricity, monthly events, a dinner delivered for them to cook together every fortnight, a sports subscription, a shopping fund for oil, toilet paper, cleaning, internet, Netflix, Spotify and Canal +”, lists Laetitia Bardet from La Casa.
“It’s hard to find accommodation in a big city”
To this global pack is added a little extra for some, equipment related to the general theme of the house. “The idea is that our houses bring together a community of people who have a common interest,” continues the marketing manager. Thus the “sport-wellness” house has a gym and a sauna, the cinema house has a projection room with a large screen for watching films for 10 or 15 people. “Our flatmates want above all to meet new people and create social ties, it’s difficult to find accommodation in big cities and many people suffer from isolation. The roommates who join us are people who are going through a period of transition alone (moving to Paris, breaking up)”, specifies Laetitia Bardet, “for students, they have just left the family home or are going to have their first job”.
And everything is good to get the roommates out of their isolation: events between the houses, “even if they regularly have parties without us”, notes Laetitia Bardet, afterworks every two months in Paris, but not only. “We also do thematic events on themes chosen by the roommates. For example, we organized preparation for the half-marathon with a coaching expert and we ran the half with a motivated team… or even a retrogaming day with the first consoles available and a big Mario Kart tournament on the big screen. The themes are not only festive since they also organized a Climate Fresco workshop and a food drive for food banks; “We harvested 400 kilos”, welcomes Laetitia Bardet.
The community aspect is also what Yvinest develops. “We choose the inhabitants, we take care of rental management, but not only: we animate the community and we offer additional services”, explains Alexis Ducoulombier. For the community to be created, the selection process is well established: the candidates “must be about the same age and do about the same things. By applying, they access the description of the other roommates. The idea is that they stay as much as possible and create a network,” concludes Luke Toulemonde. A point of view that Guillaume also shares: “I had taken my place by telling myself that I was going to try a year and see what happens, but I really like it! I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon! »
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