FMEL residences near the Dorigny campus, the Unil-EPFL portal and the private market: the options and the method for finding housing near UNIL.
To find student housing near UNIL, you have three options: a room or a studio in a house run by the Fondation Maisons pour Étudiants Lausanne (FMEL), including the Vortex, right on the Dorigny campus; a room with a private landlord or a shared flat found on the Unil-EPFL listings portal; or an apartment on the private market, which is more expensive and harder to access when you arrive from abroad. The University of Lausanne does not run its own student residence on its campus: it directs its students to these three channels.
The market is very tight. On 1 June 2026, the canton of Vaud had 3,907 vacant homes, a rate of 0.87% according to Statistique Vaud, far from the 1.5% threshold that marks a balanced market, which has not been reached since 1999. In the Ouest lausannois, where the Dorigny campus lies, the rate rises slightly, from 0.47% to 0.67% in a year; it is stable in the district of Lausanne. As for residences, the FMEL reports a vacancy rate below 0.5% in its 2025 report.
The golden rule given by UNIL itself: do not wait for your admission to start looking. Registration for some residences stays open for only one to five days per session.
UNIL's main site stretches along the lake, west of Lausanne, and is divided into five districts: Centre, Chamberonne, Lac, Mouline and Sorge. The m1 metro, between Lausanne-Flon and Renens CFF, serves it through the UNIL-Chamberonne, UNIL-Mouline and UNIL-Sorge stops. From Lausanne station, take the m2 to Flon, then the m1. From Renens station, the m1 or bus 31 reach the campus in a few stops, and bus 24, which ends at La Bourdonnette, serves the Sports UNIL-EPFL stop on the lakeside.
In practice: a home along the m1, in Lausanne or in Renens, is often better than an address that is close as the crow flies but poorly served. Some programmes also take place at the CHUV or in Épalinges: check where your classes are held before you set your search area.
The FMEL is UNIL's partner for student housing. According to its 2025 activity report, it manages more than 4,200 beds across 15 sites, and its houses are open to people enrolled at UNIL, at EPFL or at a Vaud university of applied sciences. Three of them are particularly well placed for Dorigny.
This circular building in the UNIL-Mouline district, the former village of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games, has 252 furnished single rooms of 15 to 16 m² with a bathroom, 289 rooms of 12 m² in shared flats for two, three or four, and nearly 290 furnished studios of about 21 m². There are also restaurants and shops.
Attached to the same UNIL hub, this 1980s brick house offers 117 furnished rooms of 14 to 15 m² in shared flats for four or five, and 21 studios of 18 to 26 m².
Seven buildings laid out like a small village, on route de Chavannes, with 242 rooms of 14.5 m² in shared flats for four or five and 24 studios of 21 m².
Rates, deposit terms and what the rent includes are detailed on each house's page and on the FMEL booking portal: check them when you apply. Bed linen, dishes and household linen are not provided.
Places go fast: create your FMEL account as soon as possible, note the registration opening dates and reply immediately to any offer. Residences run by private agencies, associations or other foundations complete the offer: UNIL publishes the list on its housing page.
Reserved for students of the two schools, the Unil-EPFL listings portal brings together rooms for rent, shared flats and lease takeovers posted by private individuals. You log in with your Unil credentials. Listings are deleted automatically after 30 days if their author does not remove them.
If nobody replies before the start of the academic year, do not get discouraged: according to UNIL, many landlords post just before leaving on holiday, receive a huge number of requests, and prefer to meet the applicant before deciding. It is often easier to close a deal once you are there, available to visit. Agree in writing on the cancellation and termination conditions before you sign.
UNIL advises against rushing to real estate agencies. At the start of the academic year, it is very difficult to get a home through them, especially for people arriving from abroad, who are asked for many guarantees and a Swiss guarantor. Agencies that rent unfurnished homes generally only keep candidates who have visited: this route is therefore mostly for those who are already in Switzerland.
If you try your luck, call the agency before the visit to find out whether it accepts a tenant without a Swiss guarantor and flatsharing, then prepare your application:
Plan for a rent deposit of up to three months' rent, contents insurance and liability insurance. The first rent is paid after the lease is signed, before the keys are handed over. On the budget side, a studio rents from CHF 1,200 per month on the outskirts, a 2-room apartment between CHF 1,500 and 2,200. Renens, Prilly and Écublens have lower rents than central Lausanne and are connected to the tl network. Watch the terminology: in the canton of Vaud, a 3-room apartment has two bedrooms and a living room, the kitchen not being counted.
To leave, termination is done by registered letter, generally with three months' notice for the end of a month; for a room, landlords sometimes settle for one month. If you leave early, you will often have to find a solvent tenant yourself to take over the lease.
If you are preparing your start from abroad, a Remoters home finder based in Lausanne can search for a room or a studio well connected to Dorigny for you, visit in your place, put your application together and review the lease. The first conversation and the quote are free.
Short answers to the questions our readers ask, written to stand on their own.
Sources cited in this article
A Remoters home finder on site visits for you, negotiates, and secures the lease. No commitment.
Find a home in Lausanne4.8 / 5 · 1,100+ Google reviews
Français
English
Español