So you've left student accommodation. What next?

As part of my PhD thesis at EPFL’s Laboratory of Urban Sociology (LASUR), I looked at how the housing market is evolving in step with broader societal changes. My research, based on interviews with young people living in Geneva, shows that university leavers face unprecedented challenges when it comes to finding somewhere to live – and that the uncertainty associated with this transitional period tends to persist well into adulthood.

For students, finding satisfactory housing is a well-known problem. Yet those who do manage to put a roof over their head suddenly find their world turned upside down when their studies come to an end. The prospect of having to move out of student accommodation can cause significant worry. The strategies many of these young people adopt are a case in point: some of those who I interviewed decided to stay in education, others opted for an internship over a permanent job, and others still asked to be paid less with no reduction in workload – all so they could retain the right to stay in their existing home.

Precarious and inadequate living arrangements

These observations reflect the very real difficulties young people face in the conventional housing market. Despite being graduates, some struggle to amass the guarantees demanded by property management companies, while others don’t have friends, family or other connections they can call upon – something that’s often a decisive factor when finding rental property in Geneva. As a result, many turn to subletting. And while this option offers welcome flexibility for those just embarking on their careers, the living arrangements are often precarious: subtenants have few remedies against tenants who determine the length of the sublet or place restrictions on subtenants’ daily routines or spaces they can use. This is especially true for young people who enter into informal subletting agreements, an arrangement that deprives them of a place they can truly call home and leaves them with no prospect of planning for the future.

“Young people with precarious living arrangements face deep uncertainty about the future.”

Collective alternatives

Some of the young people I interviewed are bypassing the conventional housing market entirely by forming cooperatives or joining forces in other ways. However, this is a resource-intensive approach that isn’t an option for everyone: it demands time, an extensive network of contacts, the ability to navigate complex bureaucracy, and – for those attempting to convert vacant properties into living spaces – solid skills in architecture. And while this collective approach gives young people more freedom and control over their homes, arrangements such as these tend to be temporary in nature.

My thesis shines a spotlight on residential experiences that often go unseen because of their very informality. Yet they reflect very real difficulties that leave young adults mired in uncertainty about their future living arrangements.

Fiona del Puppo, PhD student, Laboratory of Urban Sociology (LASUR), EPFL

• This article appears in December 2024 in three local dailies – La Côte (Vaud Canton), Le Nouvelliste (Valais Canton) and Arcinfo (Neuchâtel Canton) – under a joint initiative between EPFL and ESH Médias to showcase the R&D being carried out at EPFL on advanced construction techniques.