Are you a young professional or a student and want to live in Paris? If so, you will need to find a place to live in Paris and sharing a flat could be just the solution you need!  We explain all the advantages of sharing a flat in Paris right here and you will see that they can be numerous depending on your situation. It can be tricky to find a place to live in Paris, but the city has many advantages that will make it all worthwhile when you set down your suitcases in the French capital!

The price of rent in a flatshare in Paris

Let’s be honest, one of the main advantages of a flatshare is lowering the price of rent. There’s no way to avoid it - Paris is simply the most expensive city in France for housing. This is of course compensated by more attractive salaries, but we’ll come back to that later.

Living in a shared apartment in Paris means reducing the cost of rent and benefiting from an average reduction of 30% compared to a studio apartment, which is clearly a substantial amount ! However, reducing the cost of rent is not the only good reason to share a flat! This is all the more true at Nestor, where we offer fully furnished apartments with all utilities included in your rental payments : insurance, electricity, water, wifi, and gas are already set up when you arrive.

Larger, more pleasant and comfortable living spaces

One of the other main reasons for living in a flatshare is simply to be able to enjoy much larger common areas. In a studio, your kitchen would be your living room which would also be your bedroom; sharing a flat allows you a more comfortable living space. You will be able to invite your friends or your family over more easily, which will be much more pleasant. In addition, rooms in a shared apartment are often relatively large because you need your own space to store your things. You are guaranteed to have a private bedroom of at least 10 square meters whereas a studio may only be slightly bigger in total.

Our shared apartments in Paris usually have 4 or more roommates, so all the living spaces are adapted. You may well have 2 bathrooms, 2 toilets and a large equipped kitchen. A living room is also often required for the largest flatshares as well as a dining room. In short, separate rooms that will make your life in Paris much more pleasant.

Bonus points for some flatshares that have the luxury of gardens with terraces or outdoor balconies, at this level you feel like royalty!

The CAF assistance can be more advantageous

There are cases where living alone in a studio apartment while on a permanent contract or internship is less attractive than living in a shared apartment while on a work-study program. The subject can be a bit complicated, so you can find out more from our guide to housing assistance in a flatshare. Basically, it all depends on the rent you have to pay, but depending on the scale, the housing subsidies are sometimes more advantageous. In other words, in addition to paying a lower rent to have a better quality of housing, you will also benefit from better financial aid. It's a win-win situation!

Paris is consistently voted one of the best cities to study in France

Since half of the people living in shared apartments in France are students, it’s natural to be curious about the living environment of Paris. And it is very good since Paris has consistently been named in the top 10 best cities to study in for years. It is even regularly in the top 3 thanks to its 4 best strengths:

• Its attractiveness: The city knows how to attract people thanks to its living environment, its location and its dynamism.
• Its education: There are some world-renowned schools in Paris in several fields.
• Its job pool: Once you graduate, it is very easy to find a job, and for students, it is even relatively easy to find a work-study program!
• Student life: Paris is a very student-oriented city, with many places to party, to go out, countless bars and nightclubs.
• The career springboard: Paris is well known as the city where you will not only have the most job opportunities, but also with higher salaries, for more diversified positions in which you will find it easier to climb the career ladder. 

The top schools in Paris

As we have seen, living in Paris has many advantages and one of the things attracting you to this city may be its highly reputed schools and universities. Here is a small, but not exhaustive, list of the best schools in Paris: 

• HEC Paris: Simply ranked as the best business school in France and in the top 10 of the best business schools in the world. 
• École normale supérieure - Paris Saclay: One of the best schools in the world for science and mathematics.
• La Sorbonne: Ranked among the top 100 schools in the world for literature, the Sorbonne is a true institution for those who wish to pursue a career in this field.
• ENA : With the objective of training all high level civil servants, ENA is an obligatory point of passage!
• Les gobelins : It is the best animation school in the world, and a great reason to come and live in the French capital!
• Polytech Paris : Polytech is the best French engineering school.

Paris, the largest employment area in France

If we haven’t yet convinced you to come and live in Paris, you should know that Paris, with its dynamism, its companies and its employment area, will allow you to find a job very easily. The unemployment rate has been falling sharply for years. Here are a few statistics to give you an idea of the city's dynamism regarding employment:

• The professional integration rate after graduation is about 90% only 1 month after graduation.
• 50% to 60% of graduates have landed a permanent job before graduation thanks to work-study programs or internships.
• It takes about 2 to 3 weeks for the vast majority of Paris schools graduates to find a job.

Numerous public transport services

Although sometimes crowded or running late, public transportation in Paris is still very much an essential part of Parisian life. With the Metro, the bus, the tramway, the RER and the Intercités, you are spoilt for choice! Here is a breakdown of the Parisian transport system: 

• 18 metro lines: The complexity of so many lines can be intimidating, but at least the metro will always be able to take you all over Paris. Among these 18 lines, 4 are under construction which proves the adaptability of the metro for new areas of interest. 
• 5 RER lines will allow you to go to the outer suburbs of Paris without any difficulty.
• 13 tramway lines that will transport you in a very precise way.
• 64 bus lines which, if the metro is not convenient for you, will be able to transport you as close as possible to your destination. 

You will be able to easily navigate the different areas of the city to get to your school, your job or your favorite bars thanks to the city's transportation network which ensures that you always have public transportation within a 3 or 4 minute walk from your home at most! This makes it ideal for your roommate outings! 

Leisure around Paris and memories between roommates

Finally, living in a shared apartment in Paris means being able to take advantage of all the benefits the city has to offer in terms of entertainment and leisure activities, which is undeniably a strength because no other French city offers such a wide range of cultural outings.

You will be a couple of hours from Lyon, Bordeaux or Lille by TGV, but also close to the sea with the seaside resorts of Dieppe or Deauville, making weekends away with roommates very accessible either by car or by public transport. 

Nevertheless, you don’t need to leave the French capital to plan outings since many neighborhoods will already offer you many opportunities to go out with your roommates.

Whether it is the Marais district in the 4th arrondissement, Pigalle in the 9th, Bastille in the 4th or Saint-Germain-des-Prés and so many others, you will be spoilt for choice to meet up and live unforgettable moments as roommates

Coliving, another way to find advantages in flatshare

Finally, you may be interested in coliving, which is a special form of sharing as it takes the concept of community living and service even further than a simple flat share. Coliving is different from living with a roommate and has its own advantages and disadvantages. Whether it's the location, the budget, the pace of life, the number of roommates or the difficulty of getting into a coliving apartment, advantages and disadvantages are intertwined and only you can make the decision that suits you best!