ON CAMPUS
campusreview.com.au
Home truths
O
An acute housing
crisis is negatively
affecting many
students.
By Ashley Yip
24
verlooking a stitched plaid couch designed
for two, a damaged clock ticks anxiously.
On the small couch, an old laptop rests,
illuminating the neglected appliance. Yet, even a
broken clock is right twice a day, and here the clock
is accurate for a brief minute at 4:39am, under the
unintentional spotlight provided by a MacBook’s
retina display. Exhausted, but unable to sleep,
she sits on the couch under an old beach towel
– a sorry excuse for a blanket. Due to the recent
washing machine malfunction, the house is damp
and assaulted by constant off-beat dripping. Her
two large suitcases rest on the stained hardwood
floor beside her – one of which, untouched for
weeks, is covered by a light layer of dust. The other
is unzipped, providing a glimpse of the assorted
crumpled shirts, pants, underwear and odours
which dwell within. In five hours, she has class
at university.
With the arrival of 2018, Melbourne has been
battered with an affordable accommodation crisis,
with many international university students enduring
the brunt of this blow. A March 2018 report,
published by the Grattan Institute, highlights that
housing prices in Melbourne are at an all-time high.
The report specifies that prices in Melbourne have
increased by 50 per cent since 2012. A summary
published by the Department of Education and
Training similarly notes a dramatic 11 per cent
increase of international students in 2018 from the
previous year. Allison Worrall of Domain, Australia’s
property and real estate database, reveals that “a
new city report has found that rental affordability
has plunged, with university students and single
parents among the worst-affected”. While this is not
Melbourne’s first accommodation crisis, it may very
well be its most severe.
On top of studying away from home, university
responsibilities and a part-time job, many
international students are thus currently without
a home to call their own. As a consequence,
temporary living situations with friends or
acquaintances are often reluctantly arranged.
Summer break should be a time for international
students to go home, revisit family and friends,
and above all, have a break. But for many, leaving
Melbourne to go ‘home’ only serves to further
complicate house-hunting in ‘the most liveable city’.
With close to 100 applicants lining up to inspect
each and every available property, many students
believe that their current living situation may
persist indefinitely.
Crystal Ho is one such international student
without a home. Taking a sip of cheap coffee,
she remarks on her experience with the crisis
as “nerve-racking”. Already 10 hours away from
family, the crisis has forced her to take refuge
with acquaintances she had met the year before.