Student accommodation still under supplied despite council infrastructure charge reductions

HOW hard is it to find student accommodation in Brisbane?

A Draft Master Plan for St Lucia Campus where 2800 beds in student accommodation are planned.

A NEW report has highlighted the dire shortage of purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) in Brisbane, with only one bed available for every thirteen students.

The Australian Student Accommodation Market Update 2015 was commissioned by JLL and found of the more than 133,000 students in Brisbane, there were just 9400 beds in public and private PBSA in the city.

News_Image_File: An artist’s impression of Iglu Brisbane at 65 Mary St. The accommodation will have 414 student rooms and is due for completion in 2016.

The findings put Brisbane well behind more popular student destinations such as London, where the ratio is less than one bedroom for every four students. Sydney has a slightly better supply, with one bed for ever 12 students and Melbourne is worse with one for every 14.

The shortfall in accommodation has left 92 per cent of full time students to rent from the private sector or live with parents.

Low supply and high demand has also allowed some existing student accommodation to charge high rents.

After 3 years, Griffith law student Chloe Heterick left her student accommodation at Bellenden Ker College earlier this year to find more affordable living near the university.

News_Image_File: Law student Chloe Heterick at Griffith University. Photo: Stephen Archer

She said she paid $360 a week for a small room, shared bathrooms, with lunch and dinner provided.

While she said the accommodation costs were reasonable — as travel costs were factored out ¬ — she could not afford it without a scholarship which paid for her stay.

“It is worth it in the sense that you’re getting that college experience, but a lot of people just can’t afford it,” she said.

Ms Heterick has since moved to Carina, paying $125 a week in a share house with three others. “It takes about 20 minutes to get to university, but it’s definitely more cost effective.”

News_Image_File: New student accommodation developments since council changes in fees. Another development was proposed last for 38 Wharf St, which will house753 beds.

There is some hope for students however. In May, the Brisbane City Council announced a total of 2086 extra beds were under assessment since infrastructure charges for developers building student accommodation were reduced by 80 per cent in February.

In total, there are 8661 student beds in the pipeline for development in Brisbane, according to the JLL report.

Nevertheless, if all of the proposed projects in the next decade were completed, it would still leave 115,556 full time students to rent elsewhere or live at home.