student needs rental property in france

paulbran

hello,please can anyone point me in right direction as my son needs to rent property in france for a year as part of uni course?
thanks.

dopester

Which part of France? Lyon maybe? Toulouse possibly?

Is he going under the Erasmus program?

UK Erasmus students normally receive an Erasmus grant provided by the European Commission which contributes towards the extra costs arising from studying abroad. Please remember that this is a supplementary, non-repayable grant intended to offset any additional expenses you may incur while you are abroad.

How much money will I receive?
For 2009/10 the current grant is EUR 225 per month.

I remember this much.. going a few weeks before the University year began looking for a student flat was a waste of time. The landlords offering student apartments / flats / houses didn't much advertise with main agencies. It was a case of booking a week in the halls of residence, and then noticeboards at the University and local papers would fill up with landlord listings for places to rent.

Ask the UK university for names and contact details of students who are currently out in their year of study in France, in the same area your son is going. They might be able to provide information of places to rent, or about their own rental. 2 student girls did exactly this for the student apartment in France I had paid for, came over to check it out - didn't much like it at all - but they ended up also renting the same apartment for the duration of next year. French landlord didn't return my deposit either of course, saying excess electricity used.

The French don't do smoke alarms - well in some areas they don't. Really, they don't. You might find it impossible to find any shop in some highly populated areas of France who stock smoke alarms. So I suggest your son takes one with him just in case, to put in the place he ends up renting.

Look for tip-sheets from students who've studied recently in the same French city your son is going to. Tutors encouraged students to make them on their return back to UK. There used to be quite a lot of them on geocities but that's been taken offline now. Printing one of the better tip-sheets out and taking it to France proved very useful. Especially one of the tips, giving the name and address of a good Doctor near the University who spoke fluent English (also was the Doctor to the American Consulate staff) was a real saviour when hit with sudden illness - and no huge fee either (equivalent of £18).

dopester

Also take a look at the link below, and the links which lead of it:

Studying in France, finding student accommodation: room in a university
residence, sharing, student studio

And:

Studying in France, student accomodation financial help (ALE)
foreign students, apply for the ALE at the CAF

I'd forgotten about the CAF. As a student, provided you qualify, they pay something like 20% towards the cost of the rent of the apartment, even if you've gone to a private landlord outside their CROUS (which your son should contact at Uni).

The student needs to open a French bank account in order to qualify for the subsidy payment for student accommodation rent (look for tips which French bank, and account, is currently the best deal for a student.)

Also: http://www.assistantsinfrance.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=31892

paulbran

this information is brilliant,many thanks,dopester,believe lyon is destination.
best regards
paulbran

dopester

Good luck with it, for you and your son. I still think you have a lot more research and planning to do, so it all goes smoothly.

I did know a student who went to Lyon for his year, but he went out with rich parents backing him (even took his own BMW across).. so doubt I could get much info from him.

I hope your son is currently at a UK University/Higher Education centre which qualifies for the Erasmus grant. Very handy to total keep costs under control, and so is the CAF subsidy payment towards student accommodation again makes a big difference. It's so worth applying for, even if it is a bit of a pain with paperwork and administration and opening a French bank account.

Shouldn't really tell you this.. but we rang the local council (UK), explained the student year in France as part of the University (UK) course, and asked if they'd contribute towards the flight costs. Had to ring a couple of times. In the end they reimbursed us for one flight out and one flight back to the UK, but I'm not sure how they'd be with the purse strings these days.

dopester

Ok I've just gone into a different room and turned on this computer. I thought there may be a tip-info document from our time (2 students living together in France) we passed on to other students who were heading out the following year.

There is. Whilst it's for a different City than Lyon, it might still be useful as a guide. I'm not including all of it (personal stuff and some obvious stuff.. eg.. avoid accomodation around train station - quite rough area).

You really need to try and find something like this, but for Lyon.

Apartments
T2 = 1 bed/1 lounge
T3 = 2 beds/1 lounge (This is what you should look for). Note that T3 bis is the same type of apartment but may just be a bit bigger and may therefore take a 3rd person. For example our flat was a T2 bis. You may pay a little bit more money for a T3 bis as it may be slightly bigger than average. A T3 or T3bis is what you should be looking for!

For reference, we paid 318 euros per month (£214). This included all our bills. Some of our friends paid a bit less and had nicer apartments but their location wasn’t as close to university or to town, whereas we were only 2/3 mins walk away. All factors worth bearing in mind when choosing an apartment.

**Important: Although xxxxxxxxx and I paid our rent with bills included, it is in fact illegal to do this in France so don’t be duped by your landlord if he says he will get the bills in his name and pay them for you. It may be more post through your door but you both will know how much gas/electricity you are using each month and can keep on track of it. Also, this way you won’t be asked to pay any excess at the end of your Contract for over usage. [Our landlord still refused to return deposit at end of our stay, citing excess electricity used.]

Adverts for apartments
· Make the Bureau at University (J104) your first call as they will probably have some apartments for viewing.
· If you are not successful, then go to the Crij (17 Rue de Metz) or/and the Crous (58 Rue du Taur) where you will find lots of free adverts for apartments. Take a pen and paper and your mobile with you as you will need to do some phoning round of landlords. Note : The Crij also has a student travel agency and small ads re jobs, items for sale, activities etc
· You can also try the Publi or Hebdo free newspapers as they have lots of ads for apartments. However, estate agents advertise here and will charge you for their services. There are independent landlords also in these newspapers. Many French students use these papers to find flats so you have to move fast and ring round first thing in the morning.

Things to take with you
· E111 and E128 from the Post Office
· Insurance document (keep a photocopy at home) – we were insured through Endsleigh who did a special insurance for “students travelling abroad”. In fact it was the only insurance brokers we could find for this type of stay. We were covered for everything under their comprehensive insurance option. Endsleigh 0161 429 8888.
· 8 passport photos. Take a copy of your passport with you.
· You may want to obtain a French translation of your birth certificate. We didn’t need this during our stay but you may be asked to supply it. Leeds Borough Council has a translation service which costs around £15 and takes about 1 week.
· Take any necessary documents given to you by ****** (for example ones that need signing by the Bureau).
· A contact number re your Erasmus Grant so that you can find out when you will receive it in your bank accounts. We received our first grant in November and then second grant in approx April. I think ******* ********* deals with the Erasmus matters at ******.
· You may think about taking with you an “Acte de Caution Solidaire”, which is basically a letter from your parents stating to the landlord that they assure to pay the rent if you forgo payment. Hopefully the landlord won’t ask for this but they may insist upon it. The landlord may also require a copy of your mum/dad’s pay slips but I wouldn’t supply these to your landlord unless they really insist upon it.

Other info
Once you have your apartment you should open up a bank account, so that you can go to the CAF on Rue Riquet to apply for housing benefit. We went to Credit Lyonnais (Rue Alsace Lorraine) Bank and had a Carte Bleue (switch card) which was fine. We did however have to pay 20 euros to shut our accounts down.

I would recommend choosing a bank near to your apartment. You may get a charge of €1 when you withdraw money using an ATM of a different bank. It is very easy to set up the CAF; you can either fill out the forms or do it on the net in the CAF building. Remember to NOT disclose any earnings from the previous year, just leave the earnings slip blank and fill in your personal details. We were awarded £43 each per month. Not amazing but worthwhile. To apply for CAF you need an Attestation from your landlord and a RIB, found in your cheque book from the bank.

It is a good idea to have three bank accounts:
1. your French bank account
2. an English bank account – for rent
3. a second English bank account – for spends (food, clothes etc)
It is also worthwhile having internet banking so you can check and make bank transactions. You perhaps should inform your English banks that you are going away as they may think something is suspicious if money keeps being withdrawn in France.

martindow

Sadly 318 Euros is no longer 214 pounds - more like 280/290 pounds. Must be from a few years ago and shows how much the Euro has changed against the pound.

The EU medical card is now called EHIC which you get via the PO or online. Be careful if you go online as there are a few rogue sites that will try to fleece you - it is free.

lizzielondon

there is a forum called www.thestudentroom.com which i found very helpful before going to uni, chatting to current students at my uni at the time- you can search it, so maybe you could find something on there to help you?

lizzielondon

just had a quick look and they have an 'international lounge' where people seem to be posting questions about years abroad

lizzie

paulbran

thanks,I realise now more research needed.
thanks again