Student accommodation: a ‘premium’ category emerges in Rome

More generally, the survey points to a growing correlation between universities’ ability to attract students and trends in housing demand. Demand tends to rise more sharply in cities where university provision is perceived as innovative and attractive, whilst it is weaker in areas with less appeal.

Rome provides the clearest picture of this segmentation. The most common rent found for a single room is 550 euros, but prices vary considerably depending on the university and the neighbourhood.

In the Sapienza area, a standard single room costs between 500 and 700 euros; in the Garbatella-Marconi areas, which are popular with Roma Tre students, prices range from 500 to 650 euros. Around Luiss, prices rise to €600–750 between Trieste and Salario and to €650–800 in Parioli. For Lumsa, in the Prati-Mazzini areas, prices range from €600 to €750. Prices are more modest in the Tor Vergata area, where, between Romanina and Anagnina, they fall to €350–600.

The price gap widens even further for new or refurbished properties in the immediate vicinity of the universities. This is the segment that SoloAffitti describes as ‘premium’: around La Sapienza, rents for single rooms reach 800–900 euros; in the Roma Tre area, 750–800 euros; whilst near Luiss, they reach 800–1,000 euros. For Lumsa, the indicated range is 800–950 euros.

According to the survey, rents in the outlying and semi-central areas of the capital remain largely stable, whilst for new or refurbished properties near the universities, increases range from 5 to 10 per cent. Within the city itself, the rent for a single room can thus range from 350 euros for the most affordable options in the Tor Vergata area to 1,000 euros in the higher-end segment near Luiss.

A second trend is also emerging in Rome: the conversion of some properties previously used for short-term lets into student accommodation. At the higher end of the market, according to SoloAffitti, some twin rooms are being offered at 1,200–1,500 euros a month.

These are extreme figures, which cannot be regarded as representative of the entire Roman market, but which indicate the emergence of a market aimed at university students with high spending power. The market for rooms in shared flats thus sits alongside residential products that are closer, in terms of property quality and level of services, to the new models of student accommodation.

Meanwhile, the nature of demand is also changing. A single room remains the preferred option, whilst Wi-Fi and proximity to the university are among the top priorities. According to the survey, there is growing interest in air conditioning in the South; when it comes to costs, however, there is increasing interest in arrangements where service charges are included in the rent, making the monthly outlay predictable from the outset.

Finally, the ‘filter semester’ at the Faculty of Medicine contributes to this shift in seasonality. The search for accommodation tends to be spread across two periods: the first between September and October, and the second between February and March, introducing a further element of discontinuity compared with the traditional concentration of demand prior to the start of term.

“There is no longer a single market for student accommodation,” summarises Silvia Spronelli, CEO of SoloAffitti. This statement captures the key finding of the survey: rather than a uniform trend in prices, the market now shows increasing polarisation by city, university, location and the quality of the accommodation on offer.