The growth of Australia’s student accommodation sector could help ease the crisis in Australia’s suburban rental market.

An additional 5,605 beds have been added since the start of 2024, bringing the total pipeline of student-only beds to 35,605 with much of that based in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
The Urbis Student Accommodation Benchmark report says there are more than 11,100 student housing beds under construction, and a further 14,938 beds approved for development.
Melbourne has a student accommodation pipeline of 8,875 beds, Brisbane, 7118, Sydney 6849, Perth 5354 and Adelaide 3121.

Student Accommodation Council executive director Torie Brown says investor confidence remains strong in student accommodation. “The need for more dedicated purpose-built student (PBSA) accommodation is clear, and the investor fundamentals in Australia are strong,” Brown says. “The easiest way to increase housing for students and to reduce their demand on the private rental market is to work with the sector to increase PBSA development.”