Do international students cause the housing crisis?

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International students have faced blame from both sides of politics for ostensibly contributing to rising housing costs.

For example, Treasurer Jim Chalmers that increased numbers of foreign students “puts pressure on prices and rents”.

That same month, Victorian Liberal Senator Jane Hume told Sky News that they put “exceptional pressure” on housing markets.

However, they are “not the culprits of the rental crisis in Australia” and its authors “reject the assumption that the growth of international students ’caused’ or exacerbated the housing crisis in Australia”.

“International students only constituted a small part of the puzzle of the rental crisis in Australian capital cities,” the University of South Australia research paper read.

‘There’s really no pattern’

Lead researcher Michael Mu told SBS News his team looked at several different variables, including international student numbers, rental vacancy rates, inflation rates, and rental costs.

“The main message here is, because the correlations between the international [students] numbers and the rental costs are random, there’s really no pattern,” he said.

“We don’t have evidence that international students make finding housing harder for everyone.”

The research also showed that, after COVID-19 mitigation measures were lifted, an increase of 10,000 international students led to corresponding decrease of $1 in weekly rents when “rental inflation was controlled and rental vacancy rate was considered”.

Hu said “very complicated macro-level socio-economic reasons” were what was truly behind the housing crisis.

“[International students] are not the main competitors in the market, and actually, when some of them do choose to go to the private rental market, they are very vulnerable,” he explained.

“That perhaps helps to explain why we found really no statistical relationship between international members and the housing crisis.”

The researchers examined data from government departments and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) over 70 time points between 2017 and 2024.

International students are at a disadvantage in renting

The newest findings align with 2024 research from the Student Accommodation Council that also found international students weren’t to blame for rising prices.

International students make up just six per cent of renters nationally, were concentrated in capital cities, and almost 40 per cent of them live in student housing, the council’s research found.

“We do have a rental crisis in Australia, and it’s a long and systemic problem made up of a number of different factors, but to unfairly place the blame solely at the feet of international students is wrong,” Tori Brown, the executive director of the Student Accommodation Council, told SBS News.

Brown also said that the organisation’s research showed that international students were disadvantaged when competing in the private rental market.

“International students have no previous rental history living in Australia, and they usually don’t have jobs or income statements when they’re putting in for leases.”

A ‘tariff’ on international students?

Meanwhile, government efforts to reduce the number of international students studying in Australia appear to have had some effect.

According to the ABS, there were nearly 81,000 international student arrivals in January — 2.5 per cent less than the same time last year and 10 per cent less than pre-COVID-19 numbers.

Last year, the government tried to cap international student numbers and suggested limiting international student enrolments to 270,000 by 2025.

The plan was scrapped after failing to win .

In response, the government introduced a

It was enforced through a ministerial direction rather than a bill.

The Opposition is planning to unveil its own policy to limit the number of international students, with its education spokesperson Sarah Henderson saying it would consist of “tougher, more effective caps on international students”.

“Our approach will ensure you have long term certainty, underpinned with proper consultation, with special consideration for the regions where foreign students are integral to local economies,” Henderson said at the Universities Australia Solutions Summit in mid-March.

Experts like UNSW economics professor Richard Holden warn that capping international students will “definitely reduce GDP”.

“It’s important to remember that each international student that comes to Australia not only brings in the tuition fees that they pay to the university, but they, they spend money in the rest of the economy,” he said.

“That’s why they’re in a really important part of our economic success story and our export success story.”

According to the ABS, international education was Australia’s fourth largest export — valued at $48 billion — in 2023. They paid $17 billion in course fees and spent $31 billion within the broader economy.

The Student Accommodation Council also opposes the cap.

Brown said that, as Australia’s largest service export, international students “can’t have a tariff placed on them”.

“They are critical to our economy and to Australia’s future.

“What we support is making sure that there’s appropriate housing choice for students in and around where they want to live, and that means looking at ways to build more student accommodation.”