Millennials dump share houses for cheap-as-chips studio life

Inner city Sydney studios have become so cheap over the course of the pandemic that prices are now rivalling rooms in share houses.

Renter Agnes Park, 28. Picture: Britta Campion

Renting a studio in Sydney, less than a 30-minute walk from the CBD, has become so cheap throughout the course of the pandemic that even the most frugal of millennials are finding it more ­viable to ditch their shared accommodation and live alone.

The switch comes as apartment rental prices have hit a six-year low, having fallen 17 per cent on average, experts say.

On popular millennial room-hunting website flatmates.com.au, there were less than a handful of private rooms in inner-city Darlinghurst share houses that rented for less than $200 per week. But studios in the same suburb, less than 2km from the Sydney CBD, were renting at just $40 more, some inclusive of furniture, fridges, microwaves TVs and Wi-Fi.

In the once-notorious Kings Cross, a fourth-floor studio in a building with partial city views was off the market less than a week after it listed, with its new tenant signing a lease for $250 per week. In nearby Paddington, a 24sq m top-floor unit had its weekly rent dropped from $250 to $235 after only a few days, before being snapped up.

Agnes Park, 28, is one of those millennials eager to live on her own after spending the past two years in share houses in Perth. While inspecting a studio renting at $280 per week in Sydney’s Potts Point, she told The Australian it took seeing only half a dozen private rooms around Sydney to make up her mind.

“Inside the city, the condition of private rooms are horrible,” she said. “It’s crazy how expensive they are, even those that are far away in Lidcombe or Chatswood.”

Ms Park found the studios, while only slightly higher in price, a far better fit. “This studio has a nice view and nice space and it’s even close to the station,” she said.

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said Sydney vacancies were still double what they were pre-COVID-19.

“We’ve got a situation where the international border is closed, meaning international students who normally occupy inner-city areas are not with us. Until we see the border open, we’ll still see these elevated vacancies,” he said.

In Brisbane, inner city studios were even cheaper at about $250 per week. And in Melbourne, studios catering to students around Carlton were being rented for as little as $195 per week.

“Now’s the time to definitely have a look for a bargain, but ­continue to do your research,” Mr Christopher advised.