Student accommodation: rents are falling across Europe, whilst trends in Italia vary between rooms and studio flats

As September and the new academic year approach, the house-hunting season gets into full swing for many international students. HousingAnywhere, Europe’s leading student accommodation platform, presents the International Rent Index by City for the second quarter of 2026, a report analysing trends in the prices of furnished rooms and studio flats listed on the platform across 25 European cities in 11 countries.

Student interest in accommodation is already on the rise: the number of searches increased by 15 per cent in May and by 19 per cent in June. Starting early can help you evaluate more available options and find the solution that best suits your needs, especially given that, among the cities analysed by the Index, furnished rooms are currently more affordable than studio flats and attract less interest per advert.

Among the Italian cities included in the report, the market for furnished student accommodation shows an overall stable trend or a slight slowdown. Bologna has seen a 4.6 per cent year-on-year fall, with rents standing at 620 euros, whilst Rome has fallen by 3.1 per cent to 630 euros. Milan and Florence remain stable, at €620 and €600 respectively, whilst Turin has seen a 3.8 per cent increase, though it remains the most affordable option among the Italian cities analysed, with a rent of €540.
Fluctuations were more pronounced for furnished studio flats, a less common type of accommodation and therefore more subject to variation. In this regard, Rome recorded the most significant fall among Italian cities, with a year-on-year decline of 17.9 per cent, followed by Milan (-6.0 per cent), Florence (-6.3 per cent) and Bologna (-4.4 per cent). The capital of Piedmont, by contrast, shows an increase of 15.3 per cent, whilst still maintaining the lowest rent among the Italian cities analysed.

At European level, a comparison between rooms and studio flats confirms that shared accommodation can be a more affordable option for students looking for a place to live. In May 2026, a room advertised on HousingAnywhere attracted an average of 6.6 interested students, a slight increase on last year’s figure of 6.4 (+3%). Studio flats, on the other hand, attracted 17.1 interested students per advert, although this represented a 28% fall compared with the previous year.

The picture remains mixed when it comes to prices too. Although rents for furnished rooms in the European cities analysed have fallen by 4.6 per cent compared with last year, the aggregate figure reflects varying local trends. Among the sharpest falls are Brussels (-7.7%), Bologna (-4.6%), Paris (-4.0%), Lisbon (-3.6%) and Berlin (-3.1%). Conversely, other markets have seen significant increases, such as Amsterdam (+10.6%), Prague (+8.9%), Barcelona (+8.3%), Rotterdam (+6.0%) and Stuttgart (+6.0%).