Infographic | Key flatsharing figures in 2023

Rising interest rates, tighter lending conditions, a fall in the number of homes put up for sale and to let... 2023 was a year of significant property-market crisis. And in times of crisis, flatsharing is often a housing solution that offers many advantages, not least financial ones. The number of people opting for flatsharing has therefore, logically, risen in 2023, as it has for many years. Here we revisit the key flatsharing figures for 2023, drawn from more than 600,000 data points on www.lacartedescolocs.fr, France's leading flatshare portal. Flatmate profiles, flatmates' budgets, the average rent for rooms in a flatshare, city rankings by rent, the cities most in demand among flatmates, the average size of flats... Discover all the 2023 flatsharing figures.

Although students account for a smaller and smaller share of all flatmates, they still make up half (50%) of flatmates in 2023. The proportion of employees, by contrast, is rising and represents 40% of the total. More than 90% of flatmates are therefore "young people", which will surprise no one. The self-employed account for 7% of members, and the unemployed and the retired 1%. Even though intergenerational flatsharing is growing, as is single-parent flatsharing, these trends remain marginal: flatsharing remains, by an overwhelming majority, a way of life for students and young working people.

The average age of a flatmate is 27, which has likewise been rising steadily for 10 years. Increasingly late entry into working life, the growing share of rent in the overall budget, being single, and the desire to live as part of a community and share a home are all factors that may explain this rise in the average age of flatmates observed on La Carte des Colocs.

The average maximum budget of flatmates in France is €680/month including bills, which means that, on average, a flatmate is prepared to pay up to €680 in rent including bills to live in a flatshare. Unsurprisingly, it is working people (employees and the self-employed) who have the highest budget (€720), followed by students, the unemployed and the retired. Worth noting is the very large difference between the average budget of flatmates in Paris and in the rest of the country: it is on average 34% higher for Parisians!

These budgets may seem high, but they need to be put into perspective: they are maximum amounts and not the rents actually paid once the flatshare has been found. Not all flatmates, in fact, go all the way up to their maximum budget.

In France, flatsharing is the most affordable way to live, with an average rent of €539/month nationwide. A room to let costs around €566. Subletting in the regions is the most affordable form of housing anywhere in the country (€456/month on average). Rents are on average 53% higher in Paris than outside the capital.

If you are about to look for a home in Paris, bear in mind that a room to let will generally be cheaper than a flatshare (€739/month for a room to let compared with €803 for a flatshare).

Some mid-sized towns record rents as high as those in the major cities: this is the case in Annecy (€571/month) and Aix-en-Provence (€536/month). Conversely, large cities such as Grenoble (€431/month) and Toulouse (€462/month) appear more affordable and accessible.

You would have to look to towns such as Besançon (€390/month) or Perpignan (€388/month) to find an average flatshare rent below the €400 mark.

Even though there are exceptions, large urban areas are, logically, more expensive, whether you are looking for a flatshare, a rental or a room to let.

The pull of Paris is striking! In fact, 1 in 3 registered flatmates (31%) is looking for a flatshare in Paris. Only 20% of flatshare searches take place outside France's 10 largest cities! That shows just how much weight urbanisation carries. We already knew that flatsharing was an urban, "young person's" way of life, and all this data confirms it.

Worth noting is a 51% rise in flatshare demand (registrations of flatmates actively searching) on La Carte des Colocs between 2022 and 2023, which is explained by two phenomena that are hard to tell apart: the growth in La Carte des Colocs's audience and visibility, and the organic growth inherent to the flatshare market itself, which expands year after year.

While the legal minimum size of a room in a flatshare is 9m², the average size of rooms advertised on La Carte des Colocs, across tens of thousands of listings, is 12.7m² — that is 3.7m² more than the legal minimum. These rooms are generally smaller in coliving properties than in so-called "traditional" flatshares.

As for the size of the homes themselves, the average total floor area is 95m² (usually a flat), a figure that drops to 79m² in Paris — 16m² less on average. In short, the bigger the city you live in, the higher the rents and the more cramped the space becomes... 

Looking for a flatshare? La Carte des Colocs is here for you! We offer a simple, fast and free interface for choosing your flatshare from thousands of fresh, verified listings. Landlords, tenants, estate agents, flatshare agencies: you will find listings from a range of advertisers, right across France. Create a profile in just a few minutes and find the ideal flatshare in no time.

Are you a landlord or a tenant who would like to offer your property as a flatshare? Post your listing and get in touch with the Tenant Profiles actively searching in your town, and let your property quickly.