Students, 64% of contracts are annual transitional. Fees still rising
Student halls of residence are growing but demand for rent remains far higher than supply. And the price increases do not stop, especially in Rome, Naples, Turin, Bologna and Milan
5' min read
Key points
5' min read
30% of those who take a house in Bologna do so for reasons of study. This is the percentage - according to the latest surveys by the Tecnocasa and Tecnorete network of agencies. Genoa and Milan follow with 16.7 per cent and 14.1 per cent. Transitional annual contracts (64.4 per cent of contracts involving this category of tenants) and free rent (28.2 per cent) are mainly stipulated with students, but parents are asked to provide guarantees with income documentation. It often happens, then, that after a year of renting, if the children confirm their academic choice, the parents decide to buy the house, an option even more likely if the children studying away from home are more than one.
Trends
."The types most rented by university students," Tecnocasa again explains, "are two-room apartments (36.9 per cent) and three-room apartments (23.9 per cent). Compared to a year ago, there is an increase in the percentage of four-room apartments rented. This result could be due to the clear preference for the single room, mainly as a matter of privacy. The choice of a double room almost always takes place between people who are related or between friends. In fact, it often happens that groups of friends come to the Group's agencies to find a flat to share. The two-bedroom, two-bath house is a solution that is often favoured by young people'.
The proximity to university faculties (or the hospital for those studying medicine) is essential, which is why young people rarely travel to the hinterland of large cities to find the right property. This is followed by the tranquillity of the area and the presence of commercial activities and means of transport that make it possible to reach university areas when they are far away. More and more people are looking for houses in good condition and furnished, and it is increasingly difficult to rent solutions in a poor state of repair, as was often the case in the past; potential tenants have become much more demanding. Internet connection and wi-fi is appreciated, but not indispensable. The brightness of the flat also plays an important role in the choice.
Rent prices
.Against this backdrop, average rental prices are also rising in the country's major university cities: in October 2024, all types of housing show increases in rents, including the average cost of a room. This is the case in Rome, Naples, Turin, Bologna and Milan. This was established by a survey by Maiora Solutions, an innovative startup specialising in the development of artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis tools for companies in different sectors, which analysed over 10,000 rental ads, comparing October 2024 with October 2023, in the cities hosting the country's largest universities.
"With the start of the new academic year," comments Andrea Torassa, founder of Maiora Solutions, "we have analysed the rental market in the country's main university cities, where the largest universities are concentrated and which every year attract a large number of out-of-town students, also from abroad. The results of the analysis carried out using Epona's algorithms show that this year, compared to 2023, the growth in the average cost of rent is general and involves all the cities observed. Milan is unique: the increases, for all types of housing, are very limited, even the average cost of rent for two-room apartments is falling, but the city is still very expensive and for a single room an average of 1,200 euro is needed, less than half in Naples and almost a third in Turin. For Milan, the analysis also involved individual neighbourhoods, to give a complete mapping of the city and better contextualise the rental market'.
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