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ON CAMPUS
Currently living some 45 minutes away from the University of Melbourne, on a 1.8m-wide couch in Glen Waverley, she wearily explains she has been house-hunting since November of 2017. Like many others, Ho returned home, to Macau, following the completion of 2017’ s academic year. She recalls being optimistic about flying back to Melbourne the following year to a new home.“ I had friends in Melbourne who could inspect properties for me while I was gone. I was like, surely four months is enough to find a lease to sign.” It wasn’ t.
House-hunting is never easy. House-hunting while overseas? Ambitious. House-hunting, as an international student, without a home, in Melbourne? Hopeless. Like some sort of fever dream, Ho’ s life back in Melbourne has entirely consisted of applying to countless inspections alongside countless other exasperated applicants. With crowds of no less than 60 people all attempting to fit into a one-bedroom apartment each and every time,“ it’ s easy to lose hope”, she admits. On one particular inspection, Ho recalls the agent sheepishly disclosing,“ the market has been pretty dry this year”. Ho, weakly sifting through available properties, believes that was an understatement.
Despite all this, Ho almost considers herself lucky. A glimpse of relief escapes her expression as she describes stories of students, both international and domestic, forced to reside in abandoned houses and homeless shelters.
Pratik Ambani, president of the Australian Federation of International Students( AFIS), is sympathetic for students affected by the crisis. Just weeks prior, Ambani discussed the overcrowded and“ potentially illegal” living arrangements students have resorted to with The Guardian. Referring to the article, he points out that, unable to sacrifice food and tuition,“ the only thing [ students ] can compromise on is their accommodation”.
At its core, however, Ambani believes the crisis is a result of escalating housing prices. Accordingly, the AFIS works to empower students with awareness of their tenancy rights to combat potential exploitation. Despite developments in the planning and construction of new student accommodation sites around the city, Ambani is unconvinced the future is any brighter for international students.“ It’ s a question mark for international students coming to Victoria next year.”
During this period of uncertainty, feelings of anxiety, irritation and desperation can begin to manifest. Ho reveals that doing anything other than house-hunting can even prompt feelings of guilt.“ It will eat you up,” she warns.
“ Living with people that you know isn’ t necessarily as fun as you might imagine,” she reveals,“ and sleeping on a couch doesn’ t seem too bad until you’ ve been doing it for half a semester.” In a house designed for two, a third occupant will undoubtedly be an inconvenience. With only two keys to the house, Ho often has to work her schedule around her new housemates’ and vice versa. Likewise, the bills can be an awkward subject because it can be difficult to quantify the amount of water, gas and electricity used by each person. Scanning the living-room she’ s lived in for the past five weeks, she confesses she frequently feels like an intruder. During this crisis, even those with secure housing can be negatively affected.“ Everyone in this house wants me out as soon as possible.”
Relieving the MacBook from her lap, Ho claims there might also be a certain level of bias on behalf of the real estate agents and landlords when reviewing applications. According to her, Australian citizens are more likely to secure a property than other applicants. During one of her many inspections, she asked the agent what makes an applicant more likely to be approved.
“ The main thing the landlords are worried about is if the tenant can pay rent on time. So, we look for cash flow, financial stability, rent history – that sort of thing.” After that, Ho began applying for work too.
In some cases, landlords may even capitalise on applicants’ desperation by increasing rental price and length of lease. Students are therefore expected and forced to spend an increasing portion of income just on rent. Worrall says“ students living in share houses in the inner city are spending up to 60 per cent of their income on housing”, which excludes compulsory gas, water, electricity and Wi-Fi fees. On one desperate attempt to secure a property, Ho pledged to offer 12 weeks’ worth of rent in advance. She got an email two days later informing her the application had, as expected, been unsuccessful.
For many young people who have elected to study in Melbourne, feelings of regret have, by now, likely consumed their initial excitement.
“ It’ s almost as if you’ re being punished for working hard and getting here,” Ho scoffs.“ I don’ t think it’ s worth it.”
While all students are at risk of suffering from the crisis, Arjun Mathilakath Madathil of the Council of International Students Australia( CISA) says that international students are most vulnerable. Contrary to popular belief, however, Madathil claims institutions are to blame for the crisis. He argues that the crisis will persist due to insufficient action from institutions, and that international students should“ pressurise their respective institution to provide them with more affordable on-campus accommodation”. In order to address the crisis, CISA are similarly working with various associations to encourage accommodation grants for students.
Nevertheless, Emma Sun, housing spokesperson at the University of Melbourne, reassures that the university continuously works with community agencies, private accommodation providers, Centrelink and other government agencies to ensure that students’ housing needs are met. However, with the number of displaced university students, it’ s difficult to regard Sun’ s claims without scepticism.
A 2018 Grattan Institute report suggests a more controversial solution.“ The Commonwealth government can improve housing affordability somewhat – and immediately – by reducing demand.” In essence, the report insists on a population policy to limit those entering Australia.
Returning to her laptop, Ho resumes the excruciating process of house-hunting with a deep sigh. A glimpse of her screen reveals a claustrophobic number of windows and tabs. Almost as if reminding herself, she quietly warns,“ It’ s never too early to be looking for a home.”
Yet, the anxiety is unlikely to end with signing the lease. With trends of deteriorating rental affordability, and rising international students, the painful house-hunting process will – at the very least – repeat itself next year.
The clock ticks on. ■
Ashley Yip is a freelance journalist studying at the University of Melbourne.
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