Urbis Australian Student Accommodation Benchmarks Year in Review
| Wednesday, May 6, 2026 |
| 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM |
| Hall C |
Overview
Clinton Ostwald, Urbis
Speaker
Clinton Ostwald
Partner
Urbis
Urbis Australian Student Accommodation Benchmarks Year in Review
Abstract Overview
The Urbis Student Accommodation Benchmarks provide a consistent, evidence-based view of how student accommodation is performing across Australia. Following the strong engagement at the 2025 APSAA Conference, we would like to update this information in 2026 with updated benchmark results and a deeper focus on what the data is telling us about a rapidly maturing and increasingly competitive sector. Importantly, the data now includes extensive data on University owned and managed accommodation to complement the private PBSA data outlined in 2025.
This presentation will explore key national trends across, current and future bed supply, operating performance, design features, resident demographics, and rental trends, drawing on the latest Urbis Student Accommodation Benchmarks. It will highlight how conditions have shifted over the past year, including cost pressures, changing student expectations and the implications of evolving regulatory and market settings. Importantly, the session will move beyond the numbers to examine how benchmarks can be used as a practical decision-making tool by operators, investors, universities and advisors.
Attendees will gain insights into how their assets and strategies compare with the broader market, where performance gaps are emerging, and how leading projects are responding. The presentation will also reflect on lessons learned since the 2025 benchmarks release and outline how the dataset is evolving to remain relevant to the Asia Pacific student accommodation sector, including plans to expand coverage to New Zealand.
The session is designed to support informed discussion across the industry, providing a shared evidence base to guide investment, design, operational and policy decisions at a time of ongoing change.
This presentation will explore key national trends across, current and future bed supply, operating performance, design features, resident demographics, and rental trends, drawing on the latest Urbis Student Accommodation Benchmarks. It will highlight how conditions have shifted over the past year, including cost pressures, changing student expectations and the implications of evolving regulatory and market settings. Importantly, the session will move beyond the numbers to examine how benchmarks can be used as a practical decision-making tool by operators, investors, universities and advisors.
Attendees will gain insights into how their assets and strategies compare with the broader market, where performance gaps are emerging, and how leading projects are responding. The presentation will also reflect on lessons learned since the 2025 benchmarks release and outline how the dataset is evolving to remain relevant to the Asia Pacific student accommodation sector, including plans to expand coverage to New Zealand.
The session is designed to support informed discussion across the industry, providing a shared evidence base to guide investment, design, operational and policy decisions at a time of ongoing change.
Biography
Clinton Ostwald is a Partner at Urbis with more than 30 years’ experience advising on complex property, infrastructure and city-shaping projects across Australia and the Asia Pacific. He specialises in market and financial feasibility, development strategy and investment advice, with a strong focus on purpose-built student accommodation and university campus strategy.
Clinton leads Urbis' Tertiary Education Sector and is responsible for the Urbis Student Accommodation Benchmarks, a national dataset that provides independent, evidence-based insights into bed supply, operating performance, design features, and student composition across the PBSA sector. He works closely with universities, institutional investors, and operators to support informed decision-making across the full project lifecycle.
A regular industry speaker and contributor, Clinton previously presented the Student Accommodation Benchmarks at the 2025 APSAA Conference. He is recognised for translating complex data into clear, practical insights that support better outcomes for projects, communities and the students they serve.
