A PhD student is being forced to live in a backpacker’s hostel due to the ruthless rental market

An international student at James Cook University has opened up about his agonising search for rentals in Cairns and is calling for better facilities and support.

International students are struggling to secure rentals in the Far North with Study Cairns declining group housing applications because they cannot be certain there are enough properties to meet the demand.

Shahid Mehmood, a first year PhD candidate at James Cook Universtiy, has been tirelessly applying for rentals since September but he says it has been “impossible” to find a home.

“Cairns may be good for holiday-makers and rich people but for us students, it’s impossible,” Mr Mehmood said.

“There is promotion of international education in Far North Queensland but not many facilities available for international students.”

When he arrived in Cairns in February 2022, Mr Mehmood secured short-term housing near the university on reference through his PhD supervisor but said the situation had drastically changed since then.

Shahid Mehmood is a PhD candidate at James Cook University whose search for a rental in Cairns has been a lost cause. Picture: Supplied.

“The problem is some places are available but the cost has increased from $160 a week to $280/$300 a week for a single room in an old house,” Mr Mehmood said.

“We are scholarship students, forced to finish degrees with a 29,000 per year base pay. With recent inflation, an increase in scholarship amount has not been there. We are forced to do part-time work, besides a 9-5 intensive research job, to meet daily expenses because $1200 a month for a room is not cheap.”

Staying on campus was not an affordable choice either because one room in a six bedroom apartment was priced at $230 per week with a $400 non-refundable registration fee, Mr Mehmood said.

Since his four-month search for housing has yielded no returns, Mr Mehmood said he planned to live in a hostel in the CBD while continuing his search for accommodation.

“It is pretty unfortunate for a PhD student to be living in a hostel,” Mr Mehmood said.

According to Domain’s rent report, in Cairns City the median asking price for a unit was $545 last year — 11 per cent higher than the year before.

Units in North Cairns were $420, while South Cairns was $375.

Janine Bowmaker, Treasurer at Study Cairns and Managing Director at Banora International. Picture: Brendan Radke

Janine Bowmaker, treasurer at Study Cairns, peak body for international education connecting students to institutions and facilities such as accommodation, said the housing shortage was a statewide problem.

According to Ms Bowmaker, the impact has been worse for groups who come over to learn English and vocational skills, which is the bigger student market in Cairns.

“I had a group inquiry for 50 to come in March but we are at capacity and had to say no,” Ms Bowmaker said.

“We are presently having to decline housing applications from international students because we cannot be 100 per cent sure if we can meet their needs.”

Jodie Duignan-George, Associate Vice President Cairns and Far North Region at CQ University. Picture: Anna Rogers

Jodie Duignan-George, Associate Vice President Cairns and Far North Region at CQ University, said the tight housing market was an issue throughout regional Australia.

“It is difficult to recruit international students, and international workers for that matter, when we have nowhere to house them. It’s a wicked problem but I know all levels of government are working on solutions,” Ms Duignan-George said.

Simon Biggs, Vice Chancellor of James Cook University, said the gravity of the housing crisis would be realised in the coming weeks.

“While the international cohort is doing better in terms of numbers compared to 2019-20, I expect housing might be tight in comparison to the demand but we will only know for sure in about four weeks’ time,” Mr Biggs said.

Originally published as A PhD student is being forced to live in a backpacker’s hostel due to the ruthless rental market