University of Tasmania students furious at accommodation offer

A Hobart City councillor has condemned the University of Tasmania’s move on student accommodation, saying it has created a huge amount of stress for those facing homelessness.

University of Tasmania student Kaitlyn Bailey is 15 weeks pregnant and unsure of where she will be living next year. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

UPDATE: HOBART City councillor Holly Ewin has called on the University of Tasmania to prioritise students already living in residential accommodation for rooms in Hobart next year.

UTAS this week told students living in residential accommodation it had received more applications than it could service and that it would prioritise placement for first-year students and regional Tasmanians.

Separately, commencing international students were offered an opportunity to “jump the queue” if they paid upfront, though this was later retracted.

Cr Ewin said she “strongly condemned” UTAS for its handling of the situation.

“At the rate of just 0.7 per cent, Hobart has the lowest vacancy rate of any city in the country,” she said.

“Recent data from Shelter Tasmania shows that Hobart is Australia’s least affordable city for renters.

“I urge UTAS to prioritise current students in their accommodation so that those who are already here aren’t left homeless, and to provide additional support to student mental health services as this has been incredibly stressful and detrimental to the resident student community.

Holly Ewin says students already living in University of Tasmania accommodation should be given priority. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

“I also urge the State Government to intervene and provide more resources to emergency housing, and work to provide more affordable housing in central locations to actually start doing something about the housing crisis.”

Premier Will Hodgman yesterday described the issue as “not an ideal situation” and said planning authorities, such as the Hobart City Council, should take note.

EARLIER: A SINGLE mum-to-be who just completed her first year of study is among those who have been told to look online for housing as the University of Tasmania blames a tight rental market for its decision to prioritise first-year and regional students over those already in residential accommodation.

On the same day residents received the letter from UTAS directing them to social media and real estate sites, international students were offered the chance to “jump to the head of the accommodation queue” if they immediately accepted the housing offer and paid a deposit on a room.

UNI HOUSING CALL LEAVES STUDENTS ‘IN LIMBO’

UTAS has since described the wording of that letter as “unfortunate” and claimed the website aimed at future foreign students had been recalled. It was still live late on Tuesday.

Kaitlyn Bailey, who is 15 weeks pregnant and had already been told she would be unable to stay in the university’s residential accommodation once her baby was born, said she was upset she was advised two weeks before Christmas that she had a shorter than expected time frame in which to find housing.

“I was hoping for another six months,” the first-year Bachelor of Social Science student said.

“None of us know if we’re allowed to stay. We’re in limbo.”

Thomas Dwyer, who moved to Hobart from a rural Victorian town to study agricultural business, said he would now give up on study and return to his family’s dairy farm.

“The degree was going to help us get the farm up with the times,” Mr Dwyer said.

“The dairy industry is hard enough as it is. No one wants to be in a country man’s position or support our farmers through these tough times.”

UTAS spokesman Jason Purdie on Tuesday said he was unsure how many people had applied for the university’s 1100 Hobart rooms.

He said the wait list was about 400 people and that in past years about half the people on the wait list were expected to find other arrangements.

Mr Purdie blamed the tight Hobart rental market for the issues with student accommodation but noted rooms were only leased for the academic year.

“We are working really vigorously to find new accommodation options,” he said.

“To deal with this in a fair and equitable way, we’ve established sets of criteria by which we’re prioritising accommodation for next year. The first criteria are those people from outside of Hobart … Another criteria is people who have scholarships, which are about supporting people who need support to study. The third is around commencing students.”

Later, he added first-year international students would also receive priority treatment.

Youth Network of Tasmania chief Tania Hunt. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

Youth Network of Tasmania chief executive Tania Hunt said the letter sent on Monday had had a “profound impact” on young UTAS students.

“We know that UTAS has a poor retention rate and we know that this may result in some young people not continuing their education and study, and that is a huge concern,” she said.

Greens Senator Nick McKim wrote to Housing Minister Roger Jaensch on Monday encouraging Housing Tasmania get involved but was yet to receive a response by Tuesday afternoon.

Premier Will Hodgman said it was “not an ideal situation” and called on planning authorities, such as the Hobart City Council, to enable the private sector to meet demand.

“We want people who go to our university or come here to be educated to be accommodated and that includes locals across the state,” he said.

Christ College president Jack Holyman said five of 10 college committee members had not been offered a room in the facility they had been elected to run in 2019.

“A large number of people are dropping out of university because they don’t have the money to rent [or] the means to find another place,” he said.