The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) has revealed that seven out of every 10 new homes across Australia were rented by international students in the last financial year.

IPA figures show that in the 2022/23 financial year, the net intake of international students will be 250,000, equivalent to 70% of the supply of new homes.

"Australians have a right to ask how they can find a home as inflation pushes up mortgages and rental prices become unsustainable, but the Federal Government has presided over the largest intake of international students, who are filling the equivalent of seven out of 10 new homes," said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the IPA.

"The consequences of the unprecedented influx of international students are being felt not only by Australians, but by the students themselves, whose educational experience is being compromised by the housing shortage."

Mr Wild said the government expects to bring in a further 187,000 new international students this financial year, which equates to 55 per cent of the new housing supply.

The IPA report said that from 2023 to 2028, "we expect 771,012 new international students to settle in Australia, which would equate to 308,405 households" - about a quarter of Australia's net new housing supply.

"While international students are an important market for our higher education sector, the priority for our leaders must be to ensure that there is sufficient housing stock to meet the needs of those looking to secure their first home or needing to rent," Mr. Wild said.

"Once again, the federal government is stuck without a single policy solution to accommodate the unprecedented surge in international students and other migrants, which comes at a huge cost to Australians".

In research released in June, the IPA said Australia would face a shortfall in the supply of more than 252,000 homes between 2023 and 2028, partly due to an unexpected increase in the number of international students.

"We need to have an honest discussion about how many international students we can accommodate without leaving Australians out in the cold," Mr Wild said.

"The recently announced unsustainable growth in migration will put further pressure on key economic and social infrastructure such as schools, roads and hospitals, and will only further exacerbate the acute and immediate shortage of housing."