The empty 500-bed Bullsbrook quarantine facility could house international and regional students amid predictions some students will be left homeless ahead of the start of the new semester.
National Union of Students Western Australia branch president Dylan Botica said universities were preparing to deal with homeless students unable to find accommodation in Perth’s historically tight rental market.
The Bullsbrook quarantine facility remains empty. Credit: Nine
“The rental shortage in WA continues to apply significant pressure,” he said.
“We are concerned about overcrowding, and further exploitation of students living in student accommodation who currently are not protected by ordinary tenancy rights.”
Student guild presidents from the University of WA and Edith Cowan, Curtin and Murdoch universities have written to WA International Education Minister David Templeman requesting he consider using the Bullsbrook facility, completed mid-last year and never used, for short-term accommodation for international students.
But StudyPerth chief executive Derryn Belford said the $200 million facility had already been considered and members had agreed it was unsuitable for temporary student accommodation due to its isolated location, constraints around the design based on short stay quarantine, and the lack of surrounding services and amenities.
“It is a long way from anywhere and would require significant investment to be fit for purpose,” she said.
“Students come to Perth to experience our city’s lifestyle and if we put them out in Bullsbrook it is not ideal.
“The reputational risk is far too high.”
The federally funded quarantine facility is 50 kilometres away from UWA, the nearest grocery store is 8 kilometres away and the buildings resemble a detention centre.
Belford said this semester alone it is estimated WA is 5000 beds short and some students will be forced to defer their studies or go elsewhere.
She said the state government was assessing what buildings could be converted into student accommodation.
“We need to find developers and owners willing to get in this space,” she said.
WA currently has eight purpose-built student accommodation buildings, with 4200 beds.
A report released late last year by the Student Accommodation Council, part of the Property Council of Australia, showed many Australian cities were already at capacity for purpose-built student accommodation, with Perth expecting zero vacancy rates in 2023.
A snap edict by the Chinese Government forcing university students to return to face-to-face learning in their country of study would put further pressure on the already tight student accommodation sector, according to executive director Torie Brown.
Brown said the supply pipeline for purpose-built student accommodation beds was muted for the next two years – with 100 per cent of the new beds coming online in 2024 located in Sydney and Melbourne.
“Governments at all levels need to prioritise the development of new student accommodation because it provides appropriate housing exclusively for students and stops them competing with mums and dads in the rental market.”
Craig Oliver, co-founder of The Switch, said all 483 beds at the $70 million co-living facility were full for the year with 80 per cent taken up by students.
The Switch opened its doors to renters in March 2022 in a 39-storey skyscraper along Wellington Street in the heart of the CBD.
He said their facilities in Melbourne and Adelaide were also full.
“We’re fielding stacks of enquiries both offshore and onshore,” he said.
“As a group we’re looking for other sites currently, but that’s not a quick turnaround.”
Perth’s vacancy rate is 0.6 per cent, its lowest level in 42 years with the median rent at $520 per week.
WA’s five major universities, Curtin, UWA, Murdoch, ECU and Notre Dame, all offer accommodation on or near campus but are nearly at capacity for 2023.
Late last year StudyPerth, the state government and the Australian Homestay Network put out a call for the community to open their homes to students in need.
A state government spokeswoman said the shortage of purpose-built student accommodation was a global issue.
“Through StudyPerth we have also reached out to hotel operators in the metropolitan area, seeking preferential rates for international students,” she said.
The spokeswoman encouraged all students to ensure they had accommodation confirmed before arriving onshore.
Murdoch University Pro Vice Chancellor International Kelly Smith said Murdoch village had 794 beds on campus and they expected to be fully occupied before the new semester started.
“We expect the international student enrolments in the first half of 2023 to be significantly higher than 2021/22 and an increase on pre-pandemic levels,” he said.