How to get the APL in shared accommodation?

Can you benefit from the APL when you live with a roommate? How does it work ? What is its amount? Should we opt for an individual or collective lease to benefit from the APL? Here are the answers to the questions we ask ourselves with the APL and the roommate.

When you occupy shared accommodation, you remain eligible for personalized housing assistance (APL) in the same way as a tenant who occupies his accommodation alone and even a sub-tenant. Studapart explains how to get the APL when you share a flat.

How does the APL in colocation work?

As a reminder, we designate as joint tenants the people who share the same accommodation with either each an individual lease contracted with the owner, or a collective lease, shared with the other joint tenants.

Good to know: You have to make the distinction with a sub-tenant, who is a person who rents part of the accommodation to the main tenant and not to the owner (even if this situation requires the agreement of the latter). It is often recommended to prefer colocation to subletting, the first solution being often easier to manage.

You can receive APL as a joint tenant according to the same criteria as a single tenant: the accommodation must be your main residence, i.e. you occupy it for at least eight months of the year. It must also be an approved accommodation on French territory, the owner having taken the necessary steps with the authorities to have the accommodation he rents recognized as habitable in decent conditions.

To benefit from the APL in colocation, your name must appear on the rental contract (which is not the case in a sublease, for example). Each roommate must make their own request to the CAF (or the MSA).

To apply for housing assistance, you must apply on the CAF website:

1. Choose “My online services” then “Make a service request”

2. Then select “The accommodation”

3. In the “Housing assistance” box, click the “Make the request” button.

If you are more dependent on the MSA, Mutualité sociale agricole, go to the MSA website: select Individual then Family, housing and finally Housing aid. You can also consult the website www.mesdroitssociaux.gouv.fr.

What is the amount of the APL in shared accommodation?

To estimate the amount of your APL, the CAF site offers you to do a simulation. You will also find a reliable simulator on the government's My Social Rights website.

The calculation of the amount of the APL takes into account a certain number of family and pecuniary criteria: what is your family situation (single, married, PACS, cohabitation, etc.)? How many dependents do you have? What is the amount of your resources? What is your financial and real estate assets?

You will also be asked for the amount of your rent.

Of course, in the context of a roommate, you only have to declare the elements that concern you and not include those of your roommates, who make their own request.

What is the best type of lease to obtain APL in shared accommodation: individual or collective?

There are two types of lease for occupying shared accommodation: the collective lease and the individual lease. In both cases, each of the roommates is subject to the same rules and the same duties. Each of them, for example, must have a guarantor and have taken out individual home insurance.

In the collective lease, which is also called the single lease, all the joint tenants are bound to the lessor by the same rental contract. The lessor thus has only one interlocutor: one of the roommates who pays the rent and the charges (and who manages with the other roommates to recover their share). Legally, according to the solidarity clause present on the rental contract, in the event of non-payment, any other roommate is required to pay the rent.

The rental contract of a collective lease generally only mentions the total amount of the rent. It is necessary to practice a division to define the real rent of each roommate. This varies according to the number of roommates. If one of them leaves the accommodation, or if a new one arrives, the share of each roommate must be recalculated and communicated to CAF. The latter then proceeds to a new calculation to define the amount of the APL. As a result, this amount becomes very fluctuating.

In the case of the individual lease, each roommate has signed a rental contract with the lessor and each pays their share directly. In the event of non-payment by one of the co-tenants, the others are not penalized. The rent is fixed and does not vary (or slightly) during the year. This guarantees an equally stable APL amount.

To apply for an APL to the CAF or the MSA, it is preferable to have opted for the individual lease. This makes it possible to determine your part of the rent with precision and to integrate it into the calculation of your benefits.