PlanningxChange 105: Torie Brown - Student accommodation

Planning XChange

In PX105, our interview guest is Torie Brown, Executive Director of the Student Accommodation Council. The Council was formed in 2022 by the Property Council to give a voice to the critically important purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector which provides homes for over 76,500 students per year, a figure that continues to grow. https://www.propertycouncil.com.au/advocacy/our-divisions/student-accommodation-council

Providing vibrant and connected housing options for students underpins Australia’s largest service export – international education. Ensuring a strong pipeline of beds also reduces pressure on the broader residential rental market by providing a safe, student-only housing choice.

Torie talks about the vital importance of this type of housing stock and along the way dispels various misconceptions about the users of such housing and the housing type. She talks about the evolution of design practice and how this is linked to the constant feedback provided by occupants. She also identifies good locational PBSA criteria and makes various suggestions to policy makers on how to facilitate the growth of this sector. There are 200+ PBSA developments in Australia. It is the fourth largest student market in the world.

In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner, Torie recommends an article ‘Investors backing student beds in downturn’ (https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/investors-backing-student-beds-in-downturn) and ‘Poker Face’ on Stan (https://www.stan.com.au/watch/poker-face-2023).

Jess has no book ar film recommendations but does discuss the joy of setting aside an hour each week, early morning, in a cafe, for ‘life admin’.

Pete recommends the film clip of AC/DC - It’s a Long Way to the Top (If you wanna rock ’n’ roll). The band plays the song on the back of a flatbed truck travelling slowly down the main street of Melbourne’s CBD, in 1976. A great audacious, larrikin performance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQluGs2SFRs).

Audio production by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 5 June 2023.