‘Won’t stay in Australia’: Chinese stunned by rent

Chinese students struggling to find rentals have complained that they were misled about Australia, saying the “shocking” rise in cost of living is causing others back home to abandon their plans.

Speaking to the ABC, two students described their experiences with the rental crisis in Melbourne, seeing ads for onebedroom apartments increasing from $400 to up to $650 per week.

“I can’t sleep every day and I constantly have anxiety, worrying about what to do if I don’t have a place to stay,” Kiki Zhang, 25, told the ABC. “The rent has gone up too far.”

Ms Zhang told the broadcaster she was aware of “radical voices ranting hate speech” against international students, who were being blamed for the rental crisis.

Laura Zhao, 23, said news of the “shocking” cost of living increases, plus the negative sentiment towards international students, was making its way back to students in China.

“I have friends who had a plan to study in Australia, but living situations made them fearful and they didn’t dare to come,” she said.

Ms Zhao said the situation had left her “miserable and heartbroken”.

In Sydney, where there have been horror stories of some students resorting to living in tents, the situation is not much better.

One University of Sydney student from Europe posted in a group for international students last month in response to a woman’s question about whether she should come in 2024.

“The city is crazy expensive,” he wrote. “Housing in particular has become ridiculous, and even student accommodation easily goes at more than $300 per week these days.”

He said coming to Sydney “ultimately depends on your personal preferences”.

“If you enjoy outdoor activities, don’t mind the lack of night-life, have a lot of money to afford cost of living and housing and are ready to cope with a subpar transport system and very long distances to travel to get to other places, you might fall in love with the city,” he said.

“As you might have guessed, I don’t particularly like it here and I’m not going to stay for longer, but some of my friends really love it!”