You just arrived in your new city - Lyon - ready to start a new life for a few months or a few years... but first, you have to find a place to live! You’re dreaming of fabulous shared accommodation in the city center of Lyon, but housing in big French cities is a real challenge. You’ll first have to organize your searches, plan your budget, set up your rental file, and then find some flats that match with your ideal criteria, all the while competing with dozens of other candidates and trying your best to avoid scams. Seems daunting, doesn’t it? Well, don’t worry - here are five top tips for finding the perfect shared apartment in Lyon!

1. Think about what accommodation is the most useful

Before comparing every website, you can to find a flatshare, it is best to think about your search criteria. If you’re new in the city, you may not know anyone yet, and you also may not have any furniture: so you’ll need to find ready-to-live accommodation.

Here are some requirements you have to keep in mind while you are looking for accommodation :

● The location: think about what neighborhoods are next to your school or where you work. This will help you to reduce the number of results, showing only areas that are within a reasonable traveling distance. No need to cut it too much, though, Lyon has a vast public transport network! So if you can’t find any flat near your workplace, you can always find one next to a metro station.

● The furniture: to make your move more comfortable, we advise you to look for a furnished flatshare.

● The roommates: flat sharing means living in a community. Don’t hesitate to contact your future roommate before moving in. The first contact is vital to know if you’ll “feel at home” in this place.

2. Give yourself as many opportunities as possible

While searching for shared accommodation, we all visit the same well-known websites : appartager, immojeune, roomlala, La carte des colocs… There are a lot of good offers on these sites, but it’s not the only way to find a flatshare. Why not give new websites a try!

You may find the room of your dreams on :

● Le Bon Coin: famous for the second-hand market, you can also find good housing advertisements on it too.

● pap.fr or seloger.com: people searching on these websites are usually looking for an apartment, but there are a few flatshares offers. This means there are fewer competitors for the flatshares on the site, so you increase the probability of being selected for the flat of your dreams!

● Facebook: there are a lot of groups on Facebook where you can contact the roommates or landlords. If none of the publications match your needs, you can also post your own ad so that future flatmates can see you’re looking for somewhere to stay!

3. Be strict, but not too much

Now that you know WHERE to search, you have to decide WHAT you’re looking for. Sure, you are dreaming of a perfect flatshare, with a fantastic balcony, a great interior design, big spaces, very friendly roommates and your toilet, and we can’t blame you. But you have to keep in mind that, maybe, you will not be able to find ALL of those things. To help you keep your feet on the ground, we made you a list of some non-debatable criteria in a flatshare - the stuff that’s really important :

● You should have your own room - that doesn’t mean a sofa in the living room - and it’s better if it has a locked door.

● You shouldn’t be sharing one bathroom with more than 3 people, that's unlivable for everybody.

● The flatshare needs at least one common area, that doesn’t mean toilets or the bathroom. If the kitchen is the only space you share with your roommates, make sure it’s big enough to let you eat altogether.

4. Be careful with your lease agreement

There are several types of flat-sharing lease. You have to make sure you are signing the one that’s most beneficial for you.

● In most cases of shared accommodation, tenants sign a standard lease, with a solidarity clause. The same single contract is agreed by all the flatmates. That means that all the charges are divided equally but also that all the tenants are responsible for paying the costs charged by the landlords: bills, rent but also repairs! With this kind of lease, all the tenants are linked by the same contract; if one of them leaves, you’ll have to find another roommate or to pay his part of the rent.

● An individual lease, on the contrary, means that you are responsible for your own charges, rent, and repairs. Each flatmate has its own contract that gives you the exclusive right to access YOUR room and the commons spaces. By signing this type of lease, you are not linked to your roommates, and you can leave the flat when you want - respecting the departure notice.

5. Make your life easier with Chez Nestor

You are looking for furnished shared accommodation, that's easy and safe to book? Do you know Chez Nestor, the leader of a ready-to-live flatshare in France? Luckily for you, they have more than 350 rooms that are totally equipped in the city center of Lyon.

All the flatshares are :

● fully furnished to improve your flat sharing experience, you have everything you need to live comfortably

● less than 5 minutes walking from a metro station

● detailed on Chez Nestor’s website with the surface areas, the roommates' information and the services included

● in individual leases

● can be reserved in less than 5 minutes online.

Discover more information on Chez Nestor’s website!