Student housing: Rents continue to rise in major cities

The university student rental market remains one of the most dynamic sectors of the Italian real estate market. In recent years, the traditional demand from non-resident students from various Italian regions has been significantly boosted by the influx of international students, attracted by an increasingly high-quality and international national education offering. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), in the 2024/2025 academic year, the total number of non-resident students will reach 355, consolidating an already structurally high demand for housing.

Against this backdrop, the Tecnocasa Group Research Office analyzed rental contracts signed in the second half of 2025 through its affiliated agencies operating nationwide, highlighting significant trends in both prices and contract and housing types.

Sharing remains the primary strategy for containing rental costs. It's no coincidence that the most popular type of property for students is the three-room apartment (33,5%), followed by one-bedroom apartments (26,2%). The share of four-room apartments (16,3%) also remains significant, as they are chosen by larger groups of students to share fixed costs.

Selection criteria remain tied to logistics and context: people seek homes near universities or in safe, well-served neighborhoods with efficient public transportation. Furthermore, the quality of the property has recently become a determining factor. This factor is especially crucial for the international student population: international students now represent 21% of the total (a sharp increase from 15,8% in 2024) and are primarily concentrated in Lombardy (36,9%), a region that reaffirms the strong attractiveness of its universities.