International Students Facing the Brunt of the Rental Crisis in Australia, Claiming They Were Misled

In the latest international students Australia news, the student accommodation and cost-of-living crisis has hit a new high. Situations have gotten so unfavourable that several students have started opting for living in tents and paying higher amounts than the standard rates. International students across the Australian subcontinent have expressed their discontent with the treatment they believe they have received from rental companies and especially the government. Purpose-built student accommodations as they stand in Australia are at 100% capacity, leading to distress amongst the international student population.

Some rental operators have even closed up their waitlists, citing the non-availability of student accommodation in Australia, but more than likely waiting for the whole situation to blow over in some years. With no new plans for PBSAs in Australia incoming in the near future, experts believe that the students bound to come in mid-year next year will only inflame the situation further. 

Australia saw more than 600,000 foreign students enroll in Australian Universities, a number that is 8% more than what it was in 2021. Students have been sharing anecdotes about how landlords have now begun to start “bidding wars” over contested properties. “It’s been exacerbated in the past couple of months after the Chinese government told students they had to return to their overseas university to study in person,” was what Conal Newland, Nation Head, Operational Capital Markets for property adviser company Savills had to say about the situation, signalling that the crisis had been brewing since 2022. 

Australian authorities, however, have been open and hearing out student concerns, but nearly not enough is being done to mitigate the situation. The situation is especially difficult for international students. Not only do they have to deal with adjusting to a new country, but many also have to deal with overpaying to pursue their education. A Chinese student speaking to ABC News shared that international students have to cop the brunt of hate speech targeted against them, citing the influx of these students as the reason behind the rental crisis. The PBSA Australia sector is suffering greatly, and it may not see a resolution for a while.