All the ‘empty beds’ for migrants now full

KPMG’s new report was prompted by the question: ‘Where the hell have the 375,000 international migrants gone?’

Many of the 375,000 migrants to Australia in 2022-23 took up beds emptied during the pandemic. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/ The Australian

All the beds in student and worker accommodation emptied during the pandemic have now been filled, a new report from KPMG suggests, with every additional migrant into Australia requiring a new bed to be built for them.

Twenty per cent of the new arrivals into the country – about 100,000 people – have taken up the existing “empty beds” in non-private dwellings, the report released on Sunday found.

These were largely international students moving into student accommodation which was emptied during Covid lockdowns, as well as regional workers living on site in worker accommodation across tourism, mining and fruit picking. There were also beds made by Australians aged over 85 moving back into aged care homes after the pandemic.

Students in their student accommodation in South Bank, Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

This had driven huge net migration numbers, which in 2022-23 was 375,000 – more than 50 per cent higher than the year before the pandemic. The population grew by another 117,000 through natural increase (births minus deaths).

With this capacity now exhausted, it puts a “handbrake” on new migration until the government can build more dwellings.

“All the free beds are now taken,” report author and KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley, said. “The spare capacity meant we could grow. But now the dormitories are full, worker housing is full again, there’s no more spare capacity. Every additional person we’re bringing into Australia needs to have a new bed built for them.”

The population is expected to grow by about 350,000 over the next year.

“We’re at capacity in the private housing market. The lack of affordable housing will be a handbrake on migration going forward. There are jobs on offer, but without housing, people won’t make the trip to Australia.

“Housing is a handbrake on population growth, worker growth and, essentially, economic growth.”

Mr Rawnsley suspects there will be a shift in the way new migrants live and work, with a focus on developing student accommodation and workers housing on hotel, tourism or healthcare sites, which are cheaper and quicker to build.

The KPMG report also found Perth had the fastest population growth, followed by Melbourne and Sydney, which accounted for about 45 per cent of Australia’s population growth, and then Brisbane and Adelaide with 25 per cent of growth.

Seventy per cent of population growth was in the big cities since regional vacancy rates were at record lows and no downsizing premiums in regional areas.