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Federal government caps on international students introduced this year have done little to diminish the appetite for student accommodation in Melbourne, with RoomingKos announcing this week that construction has started on a second purpose-built project that will boost its total portfolio to more than 800 studio apartments across the city.
RoomingKos, a company founded in 2022 by brothers Julian and Nathan Djung, says the new development at Clayton near Monash University is under way as a larger flagship development at the university’s Caulfield campus is set for completion later this year.
The Caufield project will add 125 apartments to the RoomingKos portfolio, while the Beddoe Avenue development at Clayton will bring online another 28 apartments.
The properties will join a portfolio that includes a 290-room facility at Carlton, near The University of Melbourne, which is currently sitting at 100 per cent occupancy.
“That’s definitely the hottest property we have,” says Julian Djung, who alongside his brother was a finalist in the 2024 Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards.
“We get a lot of international students there as well as regional students, so we have quite a diverse community.”
The Djung brothers, who are equally confident of achieving full occupancy at the two new projects, have ambitions to continue growing the number of rooms that RoomingKos manages, leveraging a lifetime of experience in the sector that began with their parents who owned boarding houses when they were growing up.
The brothers established RoomingKos initially by taking on management of the family portfolio, growing from about 50 rooms initially and ramping that up in the aftermath of Melbourne's notorious COVID lockdowns by seizing on prime opportunities when the education sector was still getting back on its feet.
The latest purpose-built projects deliver on the company’s strategy to establish high-grade student accommodation facilities in key education precincts across Melbourne, particularly in south-east corridor which the company says is suffering from a shortage of suitable housing.
The national cap of 270,000 international student commencements for 2025, which was introduced in January, may be the latest blow to the higher education sector in Melbourne, but that hasn’t dented the Djung brothers’ confidence.
“Student accommodation is still incredibly strong, but when the government announced the caps there was uncertainty for the industry,” says Djung, adding that this led to a rush of students applying for university positions late last year ahead of the 2025 deadline.
Djung says that push to get into Australian universities is a clear sign that the country remains a preferred education destination for international students.
However, RoomingKos is also leveraging its reputation as a provider of “safe, trusted and reliable accommodation”, which Djung says has been a key driver of business growth over the past three years. This extends to a focus on the wellbeing of its student tenants, who often face challenges such as home-sickness, loneliness and isolation when in Australia.
“I’ve been around international students since I was a little kid as my parents had boarding houses,” says Djung.
“During that time, we saw international students being exploited. But when you look at our brand everything is legitimate, with licences and permits, and we have been able to build strong relationships with universities and a really close relationship with Monash.”
About 20 per cent of the RoomingKos portfolio is owned by the family, while the remainder of properties are managed for third parties.
After initially managing small-scale properties, the brothers developed a reputation for turning around the performance of these assets through improvements in services and facilities.
“When you are able to increase the price of rentals you get a better quality tenant, and our owners have been really impressed by that,” says Djung.
It’s a reputation that helped them secure management deals for the Carlton property and more recently the Caulfield and Clayton properties, with Djung noting that there are further opportunities emerging for the company in Beddoe Avenue at Clayton with new developments being proposed on other sites along the street.
“Our family also owns one of those blocks and will be doing a PBSA (purpose-built student accommodation) there in future as well,” he says.
Djung sees purpose-built student accommodation playing a role in taking pressure off the broader housing market by providing students with quality options specifically designed for their needs.
"PBSA plays a vital role in addressing Australia’s housing challenges," says Djung.
"By providing dedicated housing options exclusively for students, PBSA developments help ease the strain on the broader rental market. Without sufficient PBSA supply, students are forced to compete with local residents and owner-occupiers for properties that are neither designed nor ideal for student living.
"Our student accommodations are purposefully built to enhance the student experience - ensuring affordability, convenience, and community - which in turn helps free up more housing for everyday Australians looking to secure a home.
“There is an incredible undersupply in the student market at the moment. We want products that are specifically tailored for students, and we want to raise living standards, so housing accessibility is incredibly important."
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