Finding student housing near the UPF in Tahiti

The campus of the University of French Polynesia (UPF) covers 12 hectares at Outumaoro, in the commune of Punaauia on the west coast of Tahiti. Finding somewhere to live nearby is the first challenge of the new term: at the end of August 2026, the university welcomed 800 new students, while student housing places number in the hundreds. In early July, the association Avenir Étudiant estimated that 300 post-baccalaureate students were still looking for a roof over their heads.

There are four options around the campus: the university residence run by the UPF, the student housing centres of the Office polynésien de l'habitat (OPH), hostels run by religious communities, and the private market, in a studio or a flatshare. The first three are cheap but reserved as a priority for scholarship students from the islands. On the private market, a studio rents from 60,000 XPF per month, or about €500.

Here is what each option offers, when to submit your applications and how to look for a home near Punaauia if you don't get a place.

Student housing around the campus

The university residence, on campus

Run by the UPF, the university residence is on the campus itself. It has 72 single rooms of 16 to 22 m², furnished and equipped with a bathroom, spread between "fare" and apartments, with two shared kitchens and a laundry room.

• Rent: 22,500 XPF per month for a scholarship student, 35,000 XPF for a non-scholarship student, according to the rates posted by the university for the current year.
• Duration: from the August start of term to 30 June.
• Allocation: in July, by a university committee. Scholarship students from the islands and the peninsula go first, and academic results count.

The OPH housing centres: Outumaoro and Paraita

The student housing centres (CHE) are run by the OPH, but places are allocated by the French Polynesia Ministry of Education, at a committee in July.

• Outumaoro: 197 units for 392 students, in furnished studios with a fridge and bathroom, a shared kitchen and washing machines in each building. The centre is full and applications keep coming in.
• Paraita: 63 units for one or two students, with priority for scholarship BTS students from the islands.

An extension is planned: 80 new student units are due to be delivered in 2028 at the Punaauia housing centre. It will change nothing for the next two intakes.

The hostels

Hostels run by religious communities account for nearly 200 beds according to Avenir Étudiant. The supply is shifting in 2026: the Taurua islands hostel in La Mission, which housed about fifty students for 30,000 XPF per month, closed for lack of funds, before the government granted it a 12-million-franc subsidy for its payroll in July. Its reopening was still uncertain at the start of term. Also in La Mission, the Protestant education network is preparing the Tefaiete hostel, which is due to house 36 to 42 young people, girls and boys, from the islands. Ask these hostels directly about places and conditions.

The deadlines not to miss

University housing applications open each year from 30 January to 30 May, for the university residence as well as for the Outumaoro and Paraita centres. The committees then meet in July. The UPF itself warns that it cannot house all students. If you are not a scholarship student from the islands, treat a place in the residence as a bonus and prepare a search on the private market from the start.