Students looking for a roof over their heads: 140 homes are still available for rent at ACM Habitat in Montpellier

Kaelis, one of the five social residences managed by ACM Habitat. – Olivier October

For a student looking for accommodation, it's always the same old refrain when it comes to finding a roof over their head in a city where rental pressure is high. ACM Habitat launched its own student housing service in 2022: JEM (Young Student Montpellier). And intends to develop its social offer, whether you are on a stock exchange or not.

Ever more expensive rents, imbalance between supply and demand… For a student looking for accommodation, it’s always the same hassle when it comes to finding a roof in a city with strong pressure on the real estate rental market, where  student population – approximately 82 000- continues to grow. "1 additional students arrive each year", confirms Maryse Faye, city planning delegate.

They may be fervent scrollers of web pages specializing in this type of offer, but the 4th city in France in terms of number of students is struggling to satisfy a population increasingly attracted by its quality of life and’ nbsp;teaching. "This is the other side of the coin, in ten years, the growth of this population is 20 %".

For scholarship holders, it’s even worse

The CROUS offer is clearly insufficient. The 8 243 beds it has can only accommodate 10 % of those enrolled in higher education.

42% choose to stay in the family nest. 21% of those who have taken flight opt ​​for CROUS, school residences or social landlords, such as ACM Habitat  ;nbsp;via their JEM platform, i.e. around 10,000 students who pay between 250 € and 400 € per month. The 37,000 students who make up the remaining 79%, turn to the private sector, for 400 to 600 euros; per month.

From studio to T2, from €294

Residences: Agropolis Residence: Hospitals/Faculty district. From 30 à 33 m² with terrace, rent à from 471.30 € per month. Residence Les Escoliers: Celleneuve district. From 21 &agrav; 35 m², rent à from 383.12 € per month. Résidence Cit&eac; Olympique: Boutonnet district. From 18 &agrav; 25 m², à from 330.02 € per month. Student factory residence: Près d’Ar&egravenes district. Furnished accommodation, studios à 397.84 € per month, charges included. Kaelys Residence: Hospitals/faculty district. From studio to T2, à from 294.54 € per month, charges included.
INFO 04 67 99 83 57. Email: etudiant@acmhabitat.fr

The quest is even worse for scholarship holders, with very low purchasing power, i.e. 23,000 souls struggling to make ends meet…hellip; or even during the day. A study by FAGE (federation of general student associations) shows that 28% of scholarship recipients do not eat enough every day, going so far as to skip 3.5 meals per week.

"We must fire on all cylinders"

For Michel Calvo, who strives to "fire on all cylinders" (read below), committing to student residence projects in order to complete the CROUS offer is a matter of urgency. The real joint lease which allows tenants to become owners in the social sector, the regulation of the Airbnb offer, the regulation of rents, are all ways to free up rental space .

An initial experiment in the city's priority neighborhoods (QPV), for example, made it possible to respond to both the housing shortage and precariousness, while bringing a welcome share of sociality to these isolated areas. 100 students were thus able to occupy accommodation for 150 euros per month, in exchange for a few hours offered to neighborhood life, academic support or with associations. “It's a real success”, says Valérie Brunet, delegate for youth and the Mosson district, who is working to ensure that “the youth service is a one-stop shop for all youth policy mechanisms supported by the city”.

Michel Calvo, president of ACM Habitat

What resources are being implemented through JEM ?

From 2020, ACM Habitat began &agrav; develop social residences before creating a dedicated service. of 7 people and a brand "JEM" Young Étudiant Montpellier. In 4 years, ACM has opened 616 accommodations in three student residences, 26 apartments in private student residences and 10 accommodations, some of which are for shared accommodation in a rehabilitated building from downtown à next school year, all available at rents well below çà of the market. That’s 652 social offers in total.

What are the rents?

À from 294 € and until’à 500 € maximum per month, depending on the year of construction, charges, internet included and no agency fees.

Sharing with elderly people in social housing

Same observation for the CCAS, where 40 young people were able to stay in the former apartments of the EHPAD directors, in exchange for 5 to 6 hours of activity for the benefit of the elders: sports, cultural or health.

Ultimately, it is not excluded that elderly people, residents of ACM Habitat, could welcome students into their homes who could thus make their daily lives easier, through their presence, their help .

"We must contribute to bringing student housing out of the ground as part of the CPER (State-Region Plan Contracts)", promises Michel Calvo. "Thus, in Boutonnet on the site of the Chemistry school, and Voie Domitienne".

If the texts provide for the creation of at least 30% of social housing in any new construction, it is only 3% for student housing."This is what was decided in 2022 in the ZAC", affirms Maryse Faye.

900 student accommodation planned in Cambacérès

In private operations, as is the case with the MBS (Montpellier Business School) campus on the Cambacérès site, there are "900 housing units which will be built around Avenue Nina Simone and the ZAC République in Port Marianne. The work started today", announces Cédric Grail, general director of ACM which is supporting the project.

If the timetable for the implementation of the projects remains rather vague, there remains one last consolation prize for the student looking for a roof over their head: 140 accommodations are available currently in ACM Habitat residences. "First come, first served", invites Michel Calvo.

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