New Delhi & Bengaluru: Rising accommodation costs in Australia fuelled by a housing shortage is crushing the study abroad dreams of many Indian students, according to half a dozen study abroad consultants.
Accommodation prices in Australia have shot up nearly 15% for shared rooms or dormitories in the last quarter, according to latest data shared exclusively with ET by University Living, a global student housing marketplace. With 120,000 students, India makes up the second-largest cohort of international students in Australia.
“Housing costs have shot up and many students' finances are going for a toss,” said Sumeet Jain, co-founder, Yocket, an online platform for international education.
Latest rules in Australia have made it mandatory to maintain a certain amount in a student’s bank account towards living expenses. “This is creating more problems for students,” said Jain.
From March 23, the Australian government enforced stricter student visa regulations to curb the influx of migrants.
“The prices of shared rooms or dorms in Australia has increased by 14.6% to AUD 329 per week over the last one year,” Mayank Maheshwari, chief operating officer and co-founder, University Living.
Student visa approval rates in Australia have dropped 5%, recent government data shows, with students from countries such as India, Nepal, and Pakistan among the most affected, he said.
Australia’s net immigration was expected to have peaked at 510,000 in 2022-23. With the new announcement, it now aims to lower the annual intake to 250,000 – in line with pre-pandemic levels – by mid-2025. The changes include English language requirements, implementing a “genuine student test” and imposing changes in unrestricted work hours.
There has been excessive immigration during 2010-15 in Sydney and Melbourne, said experts. “A lot of what is happening right now emerges from the dialogues that started pre-Covid when the housing crisis was just emerging,” said Akshay Chaturvedi, founder & CEO, Leverage Edu.
Also, in the last few years, some “bad character programmes and diploma mills sprung up” that do not end with a legitimised post-study work requirement, he added. “So, this cleaning of the system was necessary,” said Chaturvedi.
According to Adarsh Khandelwal, co-founder, Collegify, making laws difficult is mainly to discourage low-skill workforce. “Australia is undergoing a housing crisis and the economy is suffering,” said Khandelwal.
The Australian government wants to end the practice of misuse of student visas and also due to housing becoming a problem in urban areas, experts said.
Foreign college market might see a slight decline this year due to changes in Canada, UK and Australia but it would be due to decline in non-genuine students. Any genuine student need not be concerned at all,” said Piyush Kumar, regional director- South Asia and Mauritius, IDP Education.
The housing crisis in Canada has also been a concern for international students, with some students facing challenges in finding affordable housing.
“Countries like the US, New Zealand, and the UK have similar housing issues that could potentially impact international students,” said Amit Singh, founder of ASL (UniScholars, UniCreds & UniAcco).
All study abroad admissions experts that ET spoke to welcomed the steps taken by the governments in Australia and Canada. This will curtail immigration of low-skilled people under the guise of being a student, they said.
One of the students heading to Australia for studies said the plans remain unchanged.
“I've already been accepted into Monarch University, my dream college. I believe this change will actually benefit genuine students seeking admission to Australian universities,” said the student, who did not wish to reveal her identity.
