Returning Undergraduate Students

Once you’ve lived in Paris awhile and know the ropes, you are ready to start searching for a place of your own, beginning with your second year of study. We offer you the opportunity to search for an independent room or private apartment with the Housing Office after your first-year, or you may choose to look for something on your own.

Search our Housing database

Returning students may peruse the housing database to review our listings. One month before the end of every semester, you may begin to schedule apartment visits through the Housing Office.

As our services are only available to currently enrolled AUP students, you must be registered for the following semester before we can arrange housing for you.

You should be physically present in Paris in order to conduct a housing search with us, and we ask that you visit an apartment in person before agreeing to rent it.  Once you have selected a few apartment options from the database, stop by our offices in Combes to arrange your first housing visits. For students with full-time internships, we can occasionally make exceptions to this rule and help you find housing via telephone or email.

During the month of August, our office closes down to prepare for new student orientation – we can help you troubleshoot any issues that come up with your current apartment, however, we postpone all new housing search until the first Monday of orientation. Please contact us if you would like a housing appointment during orientation week.

Once you’ve agreed to rent an apartment through our office, you are committed to staying there until at least the end of the current semester.

HOUSING OFFERS AND BUDGET

Some rental prices include items like internet, electricity, and heat – but some do not. These discrepancies are indicated on our housing offers, please contact us if you have any questions. If you aren’t sure what your rent budget should be for the year, we can help you calculate this.

Some of the apartments might be eligible for the CAF (housing subsidy from the French government). It is up to the landlord to decide. If the apartment is eligible for the CAF, you will also have to pay for the “taxe d’habitation”. This is a local administrative service tax that must be paid by the student who occupies the apartment on the 1st of January, irrespective of how long the student has been there throughout the year. It must be paid by the tenant (unless clearly stated by the landlord,) and is usually billed sometime between September and November for that year.

Students with pets should let us know at the beginning of their housing search. Some of our landlords are happy to host you and your pet, however, we ask that you pay 2 months of security deposit (rather than the usual 1 month,) in order to safeguard against any potential damages.

MOVING IN, MOVING OUT

When you move into your apartment, you should pay a one-month security deposit and the first month’s rent to your landlord. You should always collect a recipt! You will also fill out an “état des lieux” with your landlord where you will note any and all damages to the apartment, to ensure that you are not charged for them when you move out.

You must sign up for a housing insurance contract, and provide your landlord with a copy of the attestation. The easiest way to do this is to signup with your French bank.

When you move out of the apartment, you must give your landlord at least 30 days notice in writing. You will revisit the “état des lieux” after you have removed all of your belongings and cleaned the apartment; any damages that have occurred during your tenancy will be your responsibility to pay for. Your landlord is allowed to keep your deposit for up to 60 days while they repair any damages, after which point they must return the deposit, and/or send you any receipts proving the repairs that they had done.

Please see our Resources page for receipt templates, “état des lieux” forms, and moving out letter examples.