Uncertainty about accommodation is becoming a?deal-breaker for international students, factoring into their decisions about where they study ¨C and whether they head abroad in?the first place.

An IDP survey has found that housing is?now a?prime consideration for prospective international students from East Asia. Almost two-thirds of?Chinese respondents said they wanted to?secure accommodation before leaving their country, and of?these, almost three-quarters said they would not travel otherwise.

Many would-be students from Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines also indicated that their study plans depended on housing being arranged in advance. Joanna Storti, IDP?Connect¡¯s Asia Pacific commercial director, said affordable accommodation had become wrapped up in broader cost-of-living concerns that were causing many students to reconsider their plans.

Angela Lehmann, head of research at Melbourne¡¯s Lygon Group consultancy, said Chinese students¡¯ desire for pre-arranged accommodation reflected the ¡°vulnerable¡± feelings of a?population emerging from years of lockdown.

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¡°We have to bear in mind the context,¡± she added. ¡°A?lot of parents haven¡¯t been abroad for a while. They want their [children to secure] accommodation before they leave home.¡±

Dr Lehmann said universities needed to consider accommodation and living costs for Chinese students, particularly those from ¡°third tier¡± inland cities. ¡°Traditionally, we haven¡¯t considered these issues as being worth thinking about for that group of students. I?think that¡¯s a mistake. We have such a low percentage of rental availability.¡±

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She said some universities had been urging foreign students to secure accommodation before their arrival. The Australian National University (ANU) has gone a step further, extending its ¡°¡± ¨C which assures first-year undergraduates of housing in the university¡¯s 17 on-campus residences ¨C to international students.

Sally Wheeler, the deputy vice-chancellor, said ANU had been able to broaden its guarantee after pandemic-related delays had prevented it from offering rooms in its new 700-bed residential block, Yukeembruk, until last December. She said the university had wanted to fill the facility quickly, to help build a sense of community, and overseas students had been a natural choice.

¡°We¡¯re very keen to get a broad section of our student community living on campus,¡± she said. ¡°If you are an international student from anywhere, and it¡¯s your first time [here], living on campus is a great way of making friends and embracing life in Australia. You¡¯re likely to be far less isolated.¡±

Accommodation is front of mind for universities elsewhere in the world. Indian national Merrin Kennedy said a room had been ready for her when she arrived in France for master¡¯s studies at the Universit¨¦ Paris-Saclay. ¡°They managed everything,¡± she added.

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Guillaume Garreta, Paris-Saclay¡¯s head of international and European relations, said more than 6,000 student rooms had been built locally over the past five years. ¡°In France, housing is one of the major issues ¨C perhaps the issue ¨C for international students [and] all students,¡± he?added.

Dr Lehmann said social media chatter indicated that housing availability influenced the timing of students¡¯ arrivals, with some delaying courses until mid-year in the hope of lower rents, and scoffed at the ¡°myth¡± of cashed-up Chinese students able to outbid Australian in rental auctions.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com