sometimes unexpected solutions to the crisis

She was told: first come, first served. So Célestine, 26, didn’t waste any time putting together her application. For two years, this final year psychology student at the University of Lille (Nord) has been living… on a farm. More precisely, with a cereal farmer in Quiéry-la-Motte (Pas-de-Calais), 35 km from the Lille metropolis where she is studying.

Lacking accommodation, the young woman turned to the Campus Vert association, which connects farmers with students, work-study students or apprentices. Its objective: “To offer furnished and equipped apartments within a maximum of twenty minutes of university campuses, at a price 20 to 30% lower than those on the market,” explains Odile Colin, the director of the structure founded in 1995.

Around 500 homes are already available in Hauts-de-France, Brittany and Île-de-France, and a hundred more are currently being renovated. There is no selection process at the entrance. “Since my roommate and I applied as a pair, Laurent, the owner, accepted us without a guarantor,” explains Célestine. The only problem with the formula: you need a car. This is the case for the young woman who, in addition to her classes, works weekends as a saleswoman in the nearby shopping area.

In recent years, in response to poor student housing, all sorts of solutions have emerged from the voluntary sector, the private sector or the good old D system. It must be said that the situation is not improving: sky-high rents, cramped, unsanitary or difficult to access rooms in student residences… According to the survey by the Observatory of Student Life (OVE), 11% of the 260,000 students surveyed said they had encountered great difficulty finding housing in 2023.

Exchange of good services

Last June, the Parcoursup results came as a shock to Emma, ​​21. “I had applied to a whole bunch of master’s degrees in educational sciences, but I only got in Villetaneuse, in the Paris region,” confided the student, who has a degree in psychology. With no family in Paris, the young Breton from Côtes-d’Armor threw herself headlong into the search for a studio, but quickly became disillusioned. “Since my parents had modest incomes, landlords and agencies didn’t even look at my application.”

After three weeks of fruitless searching, Emma was already imagining turning down her master’s place when she heard about the Génération Part’Âge scheme offered since 2016 by the Domitys group, the French leader in senior service residences. The principle? Providing free accommodation to students, in exchange for fifteen hours of work per week in the residence – activities, DIY, discussions with the elderly, etc. Since July, Emma has been renting a brand new 45 m2 one-bedroom apartment with a balcony, thirty minutes from her university by public transport.

Alexandra, for her part, lives in a mobile home. The school of this engineering student, located in Bidart (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), on the Basque coast, has signed a partnership with a high-end campsite near the campus. A little over 120 students stay there from September to June. “It is not a default solution,” insists Patxi Elissalde, director of Estia (Higher School of Advanced Industrial Technologies). “The campsite is central and accessible by bus and bike. The bungalows are heated, connected to fiber, and tenants have free access to sports facilities.”

An ideal solution for Alexandra, who is following her course as an apprentice. “I think it’s great to have my friends as neighbours,” she smiles. “But above all, it’s a very practical option. You can stay for a month, three months. The prices are unbeatable: just over 500 euros with reversible air conditioning, Wi-Fi, night watchman, etc.”

Default choices

For lack of an alternative, young people sometimes simply return to their parents’ house. According to a report published in May by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, 4.92 million adults – mostly students aged 18 to 24 – were living with their parents in 2020. That’s 250,000 more than in 2013, the last year of reference.

Some people end up choosing their training not based on what it can bring them but on its proximity to their place of residence. According to the OVE, 6% of young people entering higher education are in this case. Thomas, 22, from Achenheim (Bas-Rhin) would have “loved to join the master’s degree in computer science, AI, data science and health at the University of Caen (Calvados)”. But his parents were not rolling in money, so he did not want to burden them with rent. So he enrolled at the University of Strasbourg. The issue of poor student housing is also a question of social justice.