September 2026: How high rents in Italy are pushing students towards homestays in Milan and Rome

The 2026 academic year in Italy overshadowed by student hardship

The 2026-2027 academic year is set to be another period of high tension on the other side of the Alps. For thousands of young Italians and international students, the dream of studying at the peninsula's prestigious universities is running up against an increasingly insurmountable financial wall. At the heart of this storm is the caro affitti 2026, a term that has become sadly famous in Italy to describe the uncontrollable surge in rental costs.

At Roomlala, we keep a close watch on European rental market dynamics every year to better support our community. In Italy, the situation has reached a tipping point. So-called fuorisede students (those studying far from their family home) are the primary victims of this systemic crisis. With family budgets squeezed by global inflation, finding a place to live has become a real struggle.

Read also: Student housing crisis: Homestays facing the 2026 Italian rental price hike and Ontario rent increase 2026: Why renting out a room appeals to hosts

However, in the face of this adversity, new forms of solidarity are emerging. As standard renting becomes a luxury, students are turning en masse towards more human and economical alternatives. In this article, we break down the mechanics of this student housing crisis in Italy and explain why a homestay is now emerging as the most sustainable and caring solution to address it.

Caro Affitti 2026: An autopsy of the student housing crisis in Italy

To understand the scale of the phenomenon, it is crucial to look beyond the national averages. While some statistics indicate an overall drop in student rents of around 6.2% in 2026 across the country, this figure masks an extremely contrasting geographical reality. Small university towns are seeing their prices stagnate or fall, but the major academic hubs continue to soar, worsening the university housing crisis.

Milan and Rome: The epicentre of inaccessible rents

Unsurprisingly, Milan retains its unenviable title as the most expensive city in Italy for students. For the start of the 2026 academic year, the average rent for a single room there is approximately 704 euros per month. This prohibitive rate effectively excludes a large portion of students from middle-class backgrounds, forcing them to either move significantly further away from the city centre or abandon their studies in the Lombard capital.

The situation is hardly any better in the capital. In Rome, room prices have seen an alarming 7% increase in the space of just one year. The average is now 615 euros per month. Worse still, property listings sometimes border on the indecent: near the famous La Sapienza university, it is not uncommon to see offers exceeding 1,200 euros for a simple room. These sky-high prices turn the search for a shared housing in Rome into a real nightmare for families.

These increases are not mere statistical anomalies; they reflect a complete disconnection between the traditional property supply and the real financial capacity of students and their parents. The standard rental market in these metropolises has become a hostile environment for young people.

The pressure of tourist rentals on the standard supply

How did we get here? One of the major factors aggravating this crisis is the uncontrolled proliferation of short-term tourist rentals. In cities with exceptional cultural heritage like Rome, Milan, or Florence, landlords overwhelmingly prefer to rent their flats to passing tourists rather than to students for the year.

This phenomenon is literally drying up the supply of long-term housing. Flats once intended for student shared housing are being converted into holiday lets, which are more profitable and perceived as less risky by landlords. This scarcity of supply, combined with ever-strong student demand, creates upward pressure on the prices of the few properties still available on the standard market.

Faced with this bitter reality, it is becoming evident that the traditional student rental model in Italian metropolises is exhausted. It is urgent to rethink how we house our young people, by valuing existing spaces rather than desperately seeking studios that no longer exist.

University residences and PNRR: From promises to the realities of the academic year

Aware of the social emergency, the Italian government has tried to provide responses, particularly through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). On paper, the announcements were ambitious: the creation of more than 63,200 new beds for students by 2027. A theoretical breath of fresh air long awaited by student unions.

However, the reality on the ground for the 2026-2027 academic year is very different. Out of the 63,200 promised beds, only 33,000 are actually available and operational this year. This discrepancy between political announcements and actual delivery leaves tens of thousands of students out in the cold, forced to turn to an already saturated private market.

But the trickiest problem is not just the number of beds; it is the price. Student unions, such as the UDU (Unione degli Universitari), have taken a stand to condemn rates deemed completely inaccessible within these very new facilities. In fact, many residences funded by the PNRR are managed by private operators that charge rents reaching up to 850 euros per month for a single room.

This absurd situation empties the initiative of its social substance. How can it be justified that a student room in Milan or Rome, supposedly subsidised to help young people, costs more than the minimum wage of many part-time workers? University residences, intended to be the student shield against property speculation, ultimately participate, against their will, in the general inflation of prices.

Homestay: The supportive alternative to inflation

It is in this context of deep crisis that renting a homestay makes perfect sense. At Roomlala, we are convinced that the solution to the caro affitti 2026 will not come solely from building new, overpriced buildings, but from the optimisation of the existing housing stock, driven by values of mutual aid and solidarity.

An economic stepping stone for student housing in Milan and beyond

The first advantage, and not the least, of a homestay is its financial accessibility. By renting out an unoccupied room in their main residence, the host does not have the same profitability requirements as a property investor. The prices offered are therefore structurally lower, often 20% to 40% cheaper compared to the traditional rental market or private residences.

Let’s take a concrete example: Luca, a student from Puglia, has just been accepted to the Polytechnic University of Milan. Facing studios at over 900 euros and shared flats at 700 euros, his budget does not stretch that far. By opting for a homestay via Roomlala, he finds comfortable accommodation with a couple in their fifties for 450 euros per month, all bills included. Not only does he save nearly 300 euros a month, but he also avoids exorbitant agency fees and the tedious process of setting up water or electricity accounts.

This solution helps democratise access to higher education. Finding student housing in Milan should no longer be a privilege reserved for the wealthiest families, but a right accessible to all thanks to space sharing.

More than just shared housing in Rome, genuine intergenerational mutual aid

Beyond the purely financial aspect, renting a student room in Italy via a homestay offers an invaluable human dimension. In a society where isolation affects all generations, living together helps to recreate social bonds. This is particularly true in large cities where anonymity weighs heavily on newcomers.

Let's imagine the case of Maria, a retired Roman woman living alone in a large flat in the San Lorenzo district, not far from La Sapienza. Her children have long since flown the nest, and her pension is struggling to cover the rising cost of living. By hosting Sofia, a first-year student, Maria ensures herself a significant supplementary income. But above all, she gains a reassuring and dynamic presence in her daily life. Sofia, for her part, benefits from a quiet environment to study, the precious advice of a local to navigate the city, and a living environment much warmer than an impersonal attic room.

At Roomlala, we see these beautiful stories unfold every day. A homestay is not a simple property transaction; it is a moral contract of mutual aid, an exchange of goodwill that gives meaning back to the concept of neighbourhood and community.

How Roomlala supports you in this transition in Italy

We know that taking the leap into homestay renting can raise questions, both for hosts and for tenants. That is why Roomlala has set up a secure and transparent ecosystem, designed to support you at every step of your project in Italy.

• Profile verification: We place paramount importance on trust. All profiles, whether hosts or tenants, are verified by our teams to ensure calm exchanges.
• Secure online payment: The first month of rent is paid via our secure platform. The money is only transferred to the host 48 hours after the student's arrival, which eliminates any risk of scams, a scourge unfortunately common on unmoderated classifieds groups.
• Insurance and assistance: By using Roomlala, you benefit from tailored guarantees to protect both the host's property and the tenant's peace of mind.

From a legal point of view, Italy offers contracts perfectly suited to this situation, such as the contratto di locazione per studenti universitari (rental contract for university students). This type of temporary contract, with a duration ranging from 6 to 36 months, is ideal for renting a room. It offers interesting tax advantages for the owner (notably via the cedolare secca) while protecting the student's rights.

In conclusion, faced with the brutality of the caro affitti 2026, it is time to change the paradigm. Do not let the surge in prices dictate your academic future or burden your family budget. Whether you are a student looking for a cocoon to succeed in your year, or a landlord with a spare room wanting to give a boost to young people while topping up your monthly income, the solution is just a click away. Join the Roomlala community and take part, too, in a new way of living and sharing space in Italy.