International students ‘not the culprits’ of rental crisis in Australia, study claims

Researchers from the University of South Australia have conducted new analysis, thought to be the first of its kind in Australia, which found no relationship between international student numbers and rising rental costs for local residents.

The study by Associate Professor Guanglun Michael Mu and Dr Hannah Soong, published in The International Journal of Higher Education Research, looked at data from 76 time points from 2017 to 2023 at the national level and 79 time points from 2017 to 2024 at the capital city level.

They concluded that international student numbers had a negligible impact on rental supply in most major cities, instead citing structural issues in the housing market as a primary cause of lower supply.

“Our study revealed that international students were not the culprits of the rental crisis in Australia,” they wrote.

Associate Professor Mu said a phenomenon of “politicisation of international studentification” had emerged in Australia.

“These p...
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