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Improving access to student accommodation

Today, Metropolitan Lyon is home to 150,000 students, 35,100 of which were awarded scholarships. These students make up 10% of the population.

In recognition of this, the Université de Lyon has rallied together with its local public partners to increase the amount of accommodation built for students. Our partners are therefore aiming to create 6,000 new spaces in the region by the year 2020.


Constructing local partnership governance for student social housing

Since 2011, the Université de Lyon, together with the State, the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Metropolitan Lyon, the Lyon and Villeurbanne municipalities, CROUS in Lyon and the ABC HLM for low-income housing, has been actively involved in steering initiatives established to guide local policies towards constructing social housing for students:
  • A technical committee led by the Departmental Land-use Directorate of Rhône (DDT - Direction départementale des Territoires) aims to create a continual dialogue between partners to identify new opportunities for projects. It follows the progress and financing of construction projects.
  • A steering committee chaired by Metropolitan Lyon's prefecture guides policies in the metropolitan area relating to social housing for students and the local implementation of the Plan 40 000 project.

Increasing and speeding up the construction of social housing for students

Various tools and processes enable our public partners to evaluate local policy on social housing for students and the suitability of projects submitted for funding.
  • A frame of reference for student accommodation which identifies all the criteria the projects should meet
  • A map of the best locations for projects created by the urban planning authority for the metropolitan area of Lyon according to different criteria (distance from the university sites, good public transport links and urban amenities)
  • A comprehensive study of student accommodation: in order to monitor supply and demand, and guide local public partners towards key steps to be taken.
The partnership-based mobilization of local key players in student social housing resulted in the creation of a framework convention which was signed on 25 March 2016 to formally establish the involvement of all partners. A total of 38.4 million euros have been allocated to constructing student accommodation
Since 2012, the number of social housing units dedicated to students has multiplied by four, increasing from 150 units created each year between 2009-2011 to 550 units built each year over four years.

AActors involved:

The State (represented by the DDT of Rhône and the Rector of the Academy De Lyon), the region, the Metropolis of Greater Lyon, CROUS in Lyon, the Université de Lyon, Lyon's urban planning authority, and providers of social housing.