THE Student Accommodation Council has welcomed RBA analysis finding that purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) has grown in response to international student demand.
The report highlights that international students are big economic contributors, but warns that housing supply has not kept pace with demand, with PBSA the best-placed to create housing at scale.
The Student Accommodation Council welcomes the RBA’s analysis that explicitly mentions that “higher international student numbers have generated a supply response” in the PBSA sector, with rapid growth in approvals and industry forecasts for continued growth.
“More than most housing types, PBSA developments can deliver hundreds of student-only beds in a single project,” Student Accommodation Council Executive Director Torie Brown said.
“A typical new PBSA building adds around 700 beds to the market, easing pressure on inner-city rentals and freeing up homes for other renters.
“This makes PBSA one of the most efficient and scalable ways to meet the housing needs of international students. It should be treated as a priority asset class by all levels of government, supported through planning systems, supportive rental legislation and investment frameworks.”
As the RBA has pointed out, “the rise in international student numbers is likely to have accounted for only a small share of the rise in rents since the onset of the pandemic”.
This is despite the international student cohort bearing an unreasonable amount of blame for increasing rental prices, with rents rising during the pandemic when no international students were arriving in Australia.
Last year, the Student Accommodation Council released a report that showed capping international students at the Government’s previously discussed level of 270,000 would only save the average metropolitan renter $5 a week in rent, around the cost of a cup of coffee, but would cost the economy $4.1 billion a year.
A report released in November by the Student Accommodation Council found the development of new PBSA had kept pace with the growth in international students. Since 2015, international student numbers have grown by 75 per cent, while private PBSA beds have increased by 74 per cent.
The feeling is we would be better off focusing on increasing the supply of PBSA, which has already demonstrated an extraordinary ability to match the demand from international students.”
