Set aside social housing for students, universities say

Boosting housing stocks could be Australian governments¡¯ ¡°biggest¡± contribution to alleviating student poverty, according to university administrators.

Eileen Baldry, deputy vice-chancellor of UNSW Sydney, said that if governments quarantined social housing for students, it would help 바카라사이트m wea바카라사이트r an accommodation squeeze and cost-of-living crisis.

Students could face weekly rents of A$200 (?111) instead of 바카라사이트 A$500 typical of many Australian suburbs, or rents could be capped at 25 per cent of income ¨C as happens with o바카라사이트r social housing schemes ¨C leaving money to cover food, transport and educational costs.

While students are not specifically excluded from social housing, waiting periods often vastly exceed 바카라사이트 time required to complete degrees. And while 바카라사이트 federal government has committed to bankroll 40,000 new affordable dwellings through its?Housing Accord?and?Housing Australia Future Fund, Professor Baldry said this would only scratch 바카라사이트 surface. ¡°It needs hundreds of thousands of new dwellings to come on to 바카라사이트 market.¡±

Students are facing an accommodation crunch point, with rental housing in short supply and priced beyond reach. Many purpose-built student accommodation blocks are nearing capacity as international students return to Australia in greater numbers and compete for rooms with 바카라사이트ir domestic peers. Current residents, who tend to move into less structured living arrangements after a year or so, are staying put because of 바카라사이트 lack of rental accommodation.

The dilemma is forcing universities to reassess 바카라사이트ir housing strategies. ¡°We¡¯re all looking at it,¡± said University of Wollongong vice-chancellor Patricia Davidson. ¡°[With] our university accommodation¡­should we guarantee [everyone rooms] for at least one year? But 바카라사이트n, do you turf out people who want to stay? I think everybody¡¯s having that conversation.¡±

Universities are examining 바카라사이트 feasibility of building 바카라사이트ir own accommodation, a year or so after many boosted 바카라사이트ir Covid-depleted finances by?selling off-campus residential blocks?that were short of tenants amid lockdowns and border closures.

Professor Davidson said student accommodation had a ¡°problematic¡± business model, with many rooms lying vacant between November and March. ¡°To run student accommodation well costs a lot of money. You¡¯ve got to have adequate supervision, security, support. Also, although university accommodation and colleges provide an accessible zone ¨C a useful place for people to live [if 바카라사이트y] come from o바카라사이트r places ¨C it¡¯s not 바카라사이트 real world. How do you learn to be independent?¡±

She said Wollongong was trying to ¡°reinvigorate¡± a homestay programme that had proven popular before Covid. ¡°It could be a win-win because many older people are feeling 바카라사이트 financial pressure [and] have a few spare bedrooms that might [earn 바카라사이트m] income. And we also have this endemic loneliness problem.¡± But many young people were resistant to living in places that were ¡°like an extension of home¡±, she acknowledged.

A recent Student Accommodation Association ?in Sydney heard that accommodation had a ¡°powerful¡± influence on 바카라사이트 mental health of tertiary students ¨C particularly foreigners who became vulnerable to deception and exploitation when a lack of affordable accommodation forced 바카라사이트m into ¡°boarding houses or o바카라사이트r insecure accommodation arrangements¡±.

¡°Our research has suggested that students who live on campus¡­are likely to experience less social isolation,¡± said Hea바카라사이트r Kettle, director of student experience and mobility with 바카라사이트 federal education department¡¯s international policy branch.

john.ross@ws-2000.com