Back-to-school 2026: How the 'Caro Affitti' is driving students toward homestays in Milan and Rome

The 2026 academic year in Italy: A time of student hardship

The 2026-2027 academic year is once again shaping up to be a high-tension period 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 into an increasingly insurmountable financial wall. At the heart of this storm is the caro affitti 2026, a phrase now sadly famous in Italy for describing the uncontrollable surge in rents.

At Roomlala, we keep a close watch on the dynamics of the European rental market 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. Faced with family budgets tightened by global inflation, finding a place to live has become a real ordeal.

Read also: Student housing crisis: Homestay as a solution to Italy's 2026 rental price surge and Ontario rent increase 2026: Why renting out a room appeals to hosts

However, new forms of solidarity are emerging in the face of this adversity. As conventional renting becomes a luxury, students are turning en masse to more human and economic alternatives. In this article, we break down the mechanics of this student housing crisis in Italy and explain why homestays have become 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 national averages. While some statistics indicate an overall drop in student rents of around 6.2% in 2026 nationwide, this figure masks an extremely contrasted geographic reality. Small university towns are seeing prices stagnate or fall, but major academic hubs continue to see prices soar, aggravating the university housing crisis.

Milan and Rome: The epicenter of unaffordable rents

Unsurprisingly, Milan retains its unenviable title as the most expensive city in Italy for students. For the 2026 academic year, the average rent for a single room there is about 704 euros per month. A prohibitive rate that effectively excludes a large portion of students from the middle class, forcing them to either move drastically far from the city center 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 just one year. The average is now 615 euros per month. Worse yet, real estate listings sometimes border on indecency: near the famous Sapienza University, it is not uncommon to see offers exceeding 1,200 euros for a simple room. These stratospheric prices make the search for shared housing in Rome a real nightmare for families.

These increases are not mere statistical anomalies; they reflect a total disconnect between traditional housing supply and the actual financial capacities of students and their parents. The conventional rental market in these metropolises has become a hostile environment for young people.

The pressure of tourist rentals on the traditional supply

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

This phenomenon is literally drying up the long-term housing supply. Apartments once intended for student shared housing are being transformed into tourist furnished rentals, 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 conventional market.

Faced with this bitter realization, it is clear that the traditional student rental model is running out of steam in Italian metropolises. 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 reality of the academic year

Aware of the social urgency, 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 associations.

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

But the thorniest problem does not lie only in the number of beds; it is at the price level. Student unions, like the UDU (Unione degli Universitari), have stepped up to denounce rates deemed totally inaccessible within these very new structures. Indeed, many residences financed by the PNRR are managed by private operators who charge rents that can reach 850 euros per month for a single room.

This absurd situation drains the initiative of its social substance. How can it be justified that student housing in Milan or Rome, supposedly subsidized to help young people, costs more than the minimum wage for many part-time workers? University residences, supposed to be the shield of students against real estate speculation, ultimately participate, despite themselves, 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 only from the construction of new, overpriced buildings, but from the optimization of the existing housing stock, driven by values of mutual aid and solidarity.

An economic springboard for student housing in Milan and elsewhere

The first, and not least, advantage of a homestay is its financial accessibility. By renting out an unoccupied room within their primary residence, the host does not have the same profitability imperatives as a real estate investor. The prices offered are therefore structurally lower, often 20% to 40% lower 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. Faced with studios at over 900 euros and shared apartments at 700 euros, his budget does not hold up. 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 task of setting up water or electricity accounts.

This solution helps democratize 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 shared housing in Rome, a true 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 ties. This is particularly true in large cities where anonymity weighs heavily on new arrivals.

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

At Roomlala, we see these beautiful stories happen every day. A homestay is not just a real estate transaction; it is a moral contract of mutual aid, an exchange of favors that restores meaning to the notion of neighborhood and community.

How Roomlala supports you in this transition in Italy

We know that taking the step of renting a room in a home can raise questions, both from hosts and tenants. This 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 capital importance on trust. All profiles, whether hosts or tenants, are verified by our teams to ensure serene exchanges.
• Secure online payment: The first month's 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 fraud, a scourge unfortunately common on unmoderated classified ad groups.
• Insurance and support: By using Roomlala, you benefit from guarantees adapted to protect both the host's property and the tenant's peace of mind.

From a legal point of view, Italy offers contracts perfectly adapted to this situation, such as the contratto di locazione per studenti universitari (rental contract for university students). This type of transitional contract, with a duration ranging from 6 to 36 months, is ideal for renting a room. It offers attractive 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 skyrocketing prices dictate your academic future or burden your family budget. Whether you are a student looking for a cozy place to succeed in your year, or an owner with a free room willing to give a helping hand to the youth while making ends meet, the solution is just a click away. Join the Roomlala community and participate in a new way of living and sharing space in Italy.