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COVID-19 and aggravated housing precarity for international students: an Australian case study

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Název: COVID-19 and aggravated housing precarity for international students: an Australian case study
Autoři: Jin Zhu, Hal Pawson, Shenjing He, Bingqin Li
Zdroj: International Journal of Housing Policy. 24:344-371
Informace o vydavateli: Informa UK Limited, 2024.
Rok vydání: 2024
Témata: anzsrc-for: 3801 Applied Economics, anzsrc-for: 4407 Policy and administration, 3801 Applied Economics, anzsrc-for: 38 Economics, 38 Economics, anzsrc-for: 3304 Urban and regional planning
Popis: Housing experience of international students has attracted increasing academic attention in recent years. Australia’s large international student population is largely reliant on lightly-regulated private rental housing, a market sector subject to extreme turbulence during COVID-19. However, while aspects of Australian student housing stress during the pandemic have been already investigated, the specific issues affecting a substantial component of the broader cohort have yet to be examined. Around 130,000 Australian international students were stranded overseas for two years (2020-22) by international border closures. Their experiences cast new light on vulnerable renter precarity in lightly-regulated markets. Via an online survey and in-depth interviews, this paper examines the challenges posed for stranded international students in terms of their Australian tenancies, and how these were handled. Three main findings emerge: 1) uncertainty deriving from travel restrictions reduced student bargaining power in the rental market; 2) inability to terminate leases, unfavourable rent negotiation outcomes and welfare exclusion caused serious financial stress; and 3) widespread subletting exposed students to eviction and exploitation. These findings foreground important downsides of Australia’s long-existing neoliberal university regime and inadequate student housing provision that endanger the fundamental purposes of higher education, and risk tarnishing Australia’s reputation as an international student destination.
Druh dokumentu: Article
Jazyk: English
ISSN: 1949-1255
1949-1247
DOI: 10.1080/19491247.2024.2339441
Rights: CC BY NC
Přístupové číslo: edsair.doi.dedup.....fde63e47563b6918d85ff7b435d9d86c
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Popis
Abstrakt:Housing experience of international students has attracted increasing academic attention in recent years. Australia’s large international student population is largely reliant on lightly-regulated private rental housing, a market sector subject to extreme turbulence during COVID-19. However, while aspects of Australian student housing stress during the pandemic have been already investigated, the specific issues affecting a substantial component of the broader cohort have yet to be examined. Around 130,000 Australian international students were stranded overseas for two years (2020-22) by international border closures. Their experiences cast new light on vulnerable renter precarity in lightly-regulated markets. Via an online survey and in-depth interviews, this paper examines the challenges posed for stranded international students in terms of their Australian tenancies, and how these were handled. Three main findings emerge: 1) uncertainty deriving from travel restrictions reduced student bargaining power in the rental market; 2) inability to terminate leases, unfavourable rent negotiation outcomes and welfare exclusion caused serious financial stress; and 3) widespread subletting exposed students to eviction and exploitation. These findings foreground important downsides of Australia’s long-existing neoliberal university regime and inadequate student housing provision that endanger the fundamental purposes of higher education, and risk tarnishing Australia’s reputation as an international student destination.
ISSN:19491255
19491247
DOI:10.1080/19491247.2024.2339441