Abstract

In this article we discuss the role of the private rental market for students in university cities and the implications of navigating this market. The focus is on Milan, a city characterized by widespread affordability issues due to the constant rise in prices and market practices that can sometimes be exploitative towards students, particularly international ones. We explored some problematic issues connected to the housing trajectories of international students based on the first results of the project Students Living in Milan – StudMiHome. It aims to research how students interact with the private rental housing market in Milan, with an emphasis on how they search for, find, keep, and leave their homes. The project also aims to develop an integrated housing orientation desk to guide students during their stay in Milan. The «housing pathways» of students are variegated, and we explore them from a relational perspective, showing the short circuits between housing, formal rental contracts, and access to educational welfare provisions. This focus allowed us to investigate the dimensions of the social and cultural capital resources involved in these pathways.