Student Housing in France: Crous Residences, CAF Housing Benefit and Visale

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

France is the country in our catalogue where the state helps most with student rent: public residences, a housing benefit that foreign students can claim, and a free public guarantor. Using all three takes some paperwork. Here is how they work.

Crous residences

The regional student services centres (Crous) run the public residences: rooms and studios at regulated rents. Our catalogue holds prices for 1,659 of them, with a typical range of €345 to €449 a month.

Priority goes to students who hold a grant based on social criteria. They apply through the student social file between winter and late spring for the following year.
International students without such a grant apply for the rooms that remain, through the Crous housing portal, from early summer, or receive a room through an agreement between their institution and the Crous. Ask your university's international office whether it has reserved places.
Students on a French government scholarship are housed through Campus France.

Residences and prices by city are on our France pages.

Private options

Private student residences: studios with services, easy to book from abroad, at a higher rent.
Shared flats and studios on the ordinary market.
A room in a private home, sometimes at a reduced rent in exchange for presence or help, through associations that organise intergenerational housing.

Leases for furnished student lets can be made for nine months, matching the academic year. The deposit is limited by law: one month's rent excluding charges for an unfurnished home, two months for a furnished one.

The guarantor problem and Visale

French landlords almost always ask for a guarantor who lives in France and will pay if you do not. Foreign students rarely have one. Visale is the answer: a guarantee provided free of charge by a public-interest body, Action Logement, for tenants aged 18 to 30, including foreign students with a valid student visa. You apply online before signing the lease and hand the landlord the certificate. Crous residences accept it, and many private landlords do.

Housing benefit from the CAF

Students, French or foreign, can claim housing benefit from the family allowance fund (CAF) if the home is their main residence and the lease is in their name. Non-EU students need a validated visa or a residence permit.

You apply online after moving in, with the lease, your bank details in France and your residence document.
The amount depends on the rent, the location and your resources. The CAF has an online simulator.
Payment starts the month after you move in, so the first month is never covered. Apply immediately: the benefit is not backdated beyond a short period.

Compulsory insurance

Tenants must insure the home against rental risks and show the certificate when they receive the keys. Student policies are inexpensive and can be taken out online.

Before the first rent

Expect to pay, on arrival: the deposit, the first month's rent, the insurance and, if you used an agency, its fee, which is capped by law according to the area. Keep this in mind next to the monthly resources required for the visa; see student visa for France.

Where to look next

Official sources

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.