Sydney’s housing supply swamped by returning international students

Sydney’s housing crisis is being exacerbated by a flood of international students who are arriving far faster than new housing can be built to accommodate them, as rent continues to skyrocket.

Sydney’s housing crisis is being exacerbated by a flood of international students who are arriving far faster than new housing can be built to accommodate them, a new analysis has found.

According to figures from the Institute of Public Affairs, over the past 12 months the equivalent of 38,098 new “households” were formed by international students landing in Sydney.

However, during the same period just 25,900 new dwellings were completed, meaning the entire supply of new houses and units was effectively absorbed by the new arrivals.

Over the next 12 months the number of new students is expected to continue to outstrip the supply of new dwellings, though by 2028 numbers are expected to taper off to the point where students occupy only around half of new builds.

It is a similar story in other capital cities.

International students are taking up a lot of housing around Sydney.

In Melbourne, new international student household numbers over the past year were equivalent to 80 per cent of the city’s new housing supply.

In Brisbane, the figure was 57 per cent, while in it was 89 per cent.

The report found that this financial year, it is expected that international students will, on average across the nation, take up close to 55 per cent of net new housing supply.

Indian commerce student Eashita Sharma said that the competition for housing was already fierce among her mates.

“We have a WhatsApp chat of 160 or more people and I know that at least 50-60 of them are definitely studying at Sydney Uni but just doing different courses,” she said.

“Those privileged enough will stay with family or friends when they get here or try student accommodation but most will try to find something through websites like Realestate.com.au”

“I’m currently living in Redfern with my family but I’ll be trying to find places through those sights,” she said.

International students from India Jeet Joshi and Eashita Sharma on campus at Sydney University. Picture: John Appleyard

“While international students are an important market for our tertiary education sector, the first job of our leaders must be to ensure that there is adequate housing stock for those looking to get their first home,” said IPA deputy executive director Daniel Wild.

“We need to have an honest conversation as to the appropriate number of international students we can accommodate while not leaving Australians out in the cold.”

However the Albanese government has in the past denied that there was any link between housing stress and increased migrant numbers.

“International education is our fourth biggest export and the biggest export we don’t dig out of the ground,” a spokesman for Home Affairs minister Clare O’Neil said.

“The return of international students back to pre-pandemic levels will help our university sector and it will also help address skill shortages in sectors that rely on international students, such as hospitality.

“We have made it clear that one of the objectives of the reforms in the migration system is to ensure that people on student visas are here to study, and not to work or to be exploited.

“Issues with housing supply are not caused by migration, which if we look beyond the IPA’s figures, is still below pre-pandemic levels. The shortfall has been created by a decade of inaction on housing under the previous government.

“The Albanese Government is working across multiple portfolios and with the states and territories to end the neglect and indifference of the opposition.”

Originally published as Sydney’s housing supply swamped by returning international students