International students resorting to pitching tents in living rooms as rental shortage bites

International student Zoe Jiang paid $300 a week to sleep in this tent. (Supplied)

When Zoe Jiang was at home in China, packing her bags to stay in Sydney, she did not think to bring an item that would prove essential — a tent.

The 27-year-old finance student arrived in Australia in January, only to find rental prices so high that she had to rely on short-stay accommodation.