Home Housing allowance (known as APL in France) in shared accommodation: how can you benefit from it, what do you need to do to obtain it?
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Housing allowance (known as APL in France) in shared accommodation: how can you benefit from it, what do you need to do to obtain it?

Everyone in France knows the acronym APL (Aide Personnalisée au Logement or housing benefit). But the measure in itself is much less well known. If you are sharing the rent in a house, you might wonder if you are eligible, for example. The answer to this and other questions.

Co-tenants can request shared housing allowance (APL colocation), however the way the CAF (French family allowances fund) calculates this depends on the rental agreement concluded by the occupants.

 

Shared accommodation is generally found in large, traditional types of housing. As such, a single rental agreement is concluded for all co-tenants. The CAF (French family allowances fund) uses a single rent receipt for its calculations and divides the total rent by the number of occupants.

Here, at Arpej, we have accommodations specifically designed for 2, 3 or 4 people. The kitchen is a common space attached to individual rooms in order to preserve the privacy of the tenants. The bathrooms and toilets can be private or shared (2 people maximum).
CAROL ABITBOL Customer Manager

In this shared accommodation, each tenant has a rental agreement drawn up in their name. Unlike “”classical”” shared accommodation, there is no solidarity clause between the various occupants. For example, in the event that one of the occupants is overdue in their payments, the other co-tenants will not have to financially bear this cost.

To benefit from housing allowance (known as APL in France), each co-tenant must submit their application as quickly as possible on the French family allowances fund (CAF) website and create their housing application (copy of both sides of the national identity card, passport or birth certificate, bank account details, completed proof of rent, dated and signed by the accommodation owner, etc.).

  • To help you and to make the procedure easier for you, we process all the information required, which relieves future residents of the task and accelerates the eligibility process
  • In our residences, we also propose workshops on administrative formalities
  • While waiting for the French family allowances fund (CAF) to process the application and, so to ensure future residents are not penalized, we take the housing allowance due into account.

Discover the full article in French here