Push to rent out spare rooms to uni students desperate for a home

Empty-nesters and families are being urged to rent their spare rooms to cash-strapped university students struggling to find accommodation in NSW’s housing squeeze.

Empty-nesters and families are being urged to rent their spare rooms to cash-strapped university students struggling to find accommodation ahead of the start of the academic year.

In the past month, the country’s largest share accommodation site Flatmates.com.au has seen a sharp upswing in students looking for a place to stay, with about 5000 students joining the site in December alone.

Flatmates community manager Claudia Conley expects to see a further spike throughout January as students battle it out in an increasingly tight rental market.

“In December we welcomed 45,000 new members to Flatmates — 25,000 of those were looking for a place to live, and one-fifth of them were students,” she said.

“Just 6500 of the new members created property listings, so there’s a clear discrepancy in supply versus demand.

“December is usually a quieter time but the number of new members was up almost 70 per cent year on year, so we’re expecting a similar surge in January.”

During the pandemic many investors sold their rental properties, while others converted them to Airbnb listings.

Flatmates.com.au community manager Claudia Conley.

“We also saw a huge exodus of people from capital cities to regional areas, but a lot of those are now moving back to the city and trying to secure rentals,” Ms Conley said.

“Many others experienced rent increases and are now looking for more affordable rentals, plus there’s more international students returning and needing a place to stay.”

Flatmates not only has listings for rooms for rent in share houses, but also private homes, and Ms Conley would encourage homeowners to cash in on their spare rooms.

“Rentals come in all shapes and sizes,” she said.

“We have many families on our platform who rent out a spare room, we have single parents looking for other single parents to share a house, young couples who want someone in to help pay off the mortgage.

“We also have elderly homeowners and empty nesters who rent out a spare room for the extra cash, but also for a bit of companionship and support.

“With cost-of-living pressures rising, I’d encourage any household to think about renting a spare room to take the pressure off their own finances — and the rental market.”

Rents range from around $200 to $400 for a room on sites like Flatmates.com and the Sydney Student Accommodation social media site – depending on where they’re located and whether they include utility bills.

For instance one Sydney single mum is offering a spare room to rent for $300 a week, inclusive of main services, and is seeking a “respectful, tidy student”.

It comes as the ACCC urges students to be aware of rental scams, with its Scamwatch site offering a range of tips such as “If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is”, and advising students to conduct an online search of the address to confirm the property exists and view it before paying anything.

Sydney uni student Cooper Cross at his shared rental accommodation. Picture: Christian Anstey

Sydney university arts student Cooper Cross flew to Sydney from his family’s Gold Coast home to house hunt the day after he accepted his course last year.

“I wasn’t quite 18 and it was hard to compete in the rental market with no rental history or references,” he said.

“Also it was hard to find a place I could afford as I wasn’t eligible for any government support as the age of independence for students is 22 — even though most young students don’t have their families paying their rent and bills.”

After several challenging weeks, Mr Cross was able to secure a small apartment in Camperdown. But two weeks before his six-month lease ended, he was told the landlord was selling the unit.

“I again had a few weeks to find another place,” he said. “I found a spot in a shared place just a couple of days before I had to move, it was stressful and you can never really feel secure.”

Mr Cross now works 30-plus hours a week while studying full-time in order to make ends meet.

“I’m working in hospo, I often finish shifts at 1am and have to be at uni at 9am,” he said.

“It would be great to have access to Youth Allowance, it would ease the pressure.”

National Tertiary Education Union president Dr Alison Barnes. Picture: Twitter

National Union of Students president Bailey Riley said the union would continue its Age of Independence campaign in 2023 – calling on the federal government to lower the age students become eligible for Centrelink’s Youth Allowance, from 22 to 18.

“Student accommodation fills up early and students are left with no choice but to go to more expensive third-party options,” Ms Riley said.

“With rental and other costs rising, we’d urge the government to reduce the age of independence so that students who have moved out of home have access to income support.

“Many students are not financially supported by their parents throughout uni so have to work part-time or full-time to afford rent and other expenses which impacts their studies.”

Dr Alison Barnes, president of the National Tertiary Education Union, said the tight rental market was making life harder for disadvantaged students.

“If students are struggling financially with basics like housing, it makes it harder to focus on study,” she said.

“That has a whole range of implications for academic staff, who often fill pastoral care roles that deal first-hand with student stress.

“We‘ve seen students who are scrambling to find a roof over their heads struggle with anxiety and depression.

University student accommodation is getting harder to secure, with several universities selling off their student housing when they struggled with lockdowns and border closures during the height of the pandemic.

Sydney University offers around 2400 places in university-owned residences or near the main campus, but these are already nearing capacity in 2023. Students can also apply for scholarships to help with rental costs, while emergency accommodation is provided to students in dire need.

At the University of NSW, all on-campus accommodation was fully booked by the start of January, with a waiting list now operating in case of any movement.

“UNSW Sydney is seeing a higher demand for student accommodation compared to recent years, aligned to rental market demands in Sydney,” a spokesperson said.

Regional universities are also feeling the pinch of a tight rental market.

University of Newcastle has around 1800 beds on its primary Callaghan campus and is working to provide more accommodation to meet the high demand.

Wollongong University has increased its student accommodation capacity from 1718 beds at the start of 2022, to 2278 beds this year.

UOW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) Theo Farrell said after final accommodation offers were processed this week, a waiting list would operate for any places that became available.

Staff and local residents were also encouraged to host students as part of the university’s Study Stays and Homestay programs.

“In response to the shortage of private rental options we have been encouraging UOW staff to think about joining those programs if they have a spare room or granny flat to rent out to a student,” he said.

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