How to search for Student Accommodation in Australia?

Written by Rachit Agrawal, MBA

Published on Mon, December 3, 2018 6:08 AM • Updated on Mon, December 16, 2019 6:48 AM • 2 mins read

Accommodation in Australia for international students is quite different when compared to many other parts of the world because Australian universities provide very little or absolutely no hostel-accommodation. Even those that are provided tend to be quite expensive for Indian students. Hence, students opt for home-stay, off-campus hostels, paying guest accommodation and other rental properties.

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What kind of accommodation is available for Students in Australia?

Homestays

This is a pattern of accommodation where international students stay with an Australian family, paying the rent on a weekly basis. Most of such type of stays include breakfast in the rent, but there are facilities for self-catering options too. This is advantageous for students to mingle with the Australian culture and get accustomed to the Australian way of life. Many of the universities have a registered list of such home-stay accommodations to help the foreign students find the best place to stay. The cost varies usually between $110 and $270 per week.

Property on Rent

This method of accommodation is where students can jointly take up a home for rent, the rent being mostly around $100 to $400 per week, and shared rental accommodations costing around $70 to $250 per week. The rental properties might be rarely furnished.

Hostel/Paying-Guest-house

In this type of accommodation, students can choose to stay on a sharing basis. The Bathroom facilities and kitchen might be shared and it provides the students with their own freedom to cook. These accommodations tend to be cheaper than university or homestay accommodations at around $80 to $135 a week.

On-campus residence

Universities that provide on-campus housing facilities for students are generally more expensive. Also, the prices might cater to the availability of the accommodation and hence it is advisable to inquire and apply early pertaining to its limitedness.

What are the Websites to search for Student Accommodation in Australia?

Google, forums and Facebook are a great place to get clues on affordability and relative proximity to the university (type in broad keywords such as ‘find student rooms [city]’). The following websites might be very useful for such purposes: