Finding Accommodation
There are a number of ways that you can find accommodation in France. The main way is through an estate agent. Estate agents act as 'middle men', connecting people wanting to sell or rent houses with people looking to buy or rent them. Estate agents play an advisory role and there are numerous different types of these agencies in France. Estate agents are most likely to have a wide range of offers corresponding to your search criteria. However, this is an expensive option as you will have to pay the estate agent a fee. Moreover, most estate agents will increase rental prices to improve their commission.
You can also look for accommodation privately, and deal directly with the owner. This option has the advantage of being free, but the disadvantage of being more difficult because independent offers can be harder to find and to negotiate.
If you do not want to go through an estate agent, the classifieds section of newspapers is a good place to start looking for independent offers, and more and more people are using the Internet to advertise. The Internet has details of all sorts of offers; private offers, estate agency offers, or even offers for house or flat-sharing. It also has the advantage that you can search property websites for accommodation that matches your requirements.
You can also look for advertisements in public places, like universities or churches for example, but this tends to take more time than searching on the internet and has the disadvantage that properties advertised are often already rented out to an earlier viewer. For an explanation of the abbreviations seen in property advertisements, see Understanding Advertisements.
Finally there is social housing, designed for families or individuals with limited resources. To benefit from this type of accommodation you need to complete an application form and hand it in to the Public Office for Development and Construction (OPAC) of the town in which the accommodation is situated. Your application will be considered, and you will be informed of your success. If you are eligible, this is the cheapest type of accommodation available in France. For details of student housing, see: Finding Student Accommodation.
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