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Chippendale, NSW 2008
Renting in Chippendale, between the University of Sydney and UTS
1 room listedfrom $850/weekUSYD
Chippendale is a small, creative pocket of the inner city, squeezed into the few blocks between the University of Sydney and UTS. That closeness is the whole appeal for students: you can walk out the door and be at a lecture on either campus in minutes, with Central Station and Redfern nearby for everywhere else. In between, the streets are full of laneway cafes, converted warehouses and the hawker-style food stalls of Spice Alley on Kensington Street, while the Central Park towers on Broadway — with their famous vertical gardens — mark the suburb's busy northern end.
Because Chippendale is so compact and so close to two campuses, rooms are in demand, and most of what comes up is a room in a share house — an old terrace off Abercrombie Street, or one of the newer Central Park apartments — rather than a whole place to yourself. Sharing is the norm, which keeps rents more manageable and means you meet other students fast. On Zuwu you can browse verified rooms and share houses here, read every listing in your own language and message hosts before you fly out, and because each host confirms an Australian mobile number before a room goes live, there's a real, reachable person behind every listing.
Rooms in Chippendale right now
Every host verifies an Australian mobile before a room goes live, and a listing's address stays private until you book an inspection.
Getting to USYD
The best thing about Chippendale is that there's barely a commute at all. The University of Sydney's main Camperdown campus is a short walk across City Road or Cleveland Street, and UTS is an easy stroll the other way towards Broadway — so whichever of the two you study at, you can live here and walk to class, and it's just as easy to share with a friend at the other. Central Station is only a few minutes further on foot, putting the trains, the airport line and the rest of Sydney within easy reach, and Redfern station is a short walk from the suburb's southern edge.
Who lives in Chippendale
Chippendale is a compact, student-filled pocket, and its population splits almost evenly between residents of European and East Asian background — at the 2021 Census each made up roughly a third (around 33% and 32%), with a smaller Oceanian community of about 11%. With both the University of Sydney and UTS on the doorstep, a large share of the people around you are students and young renters, so as an international student you'll be far from the only new face — and that even, mixed make-up is a big part of why the suburb is so easy to settle into.
Tips for renting in Chippendale
- Eat your way around the laneways. Spice Alley on Kensington Street does cheap, hawker-style Asian food, the cafes tucked through the old warehouse lanes are good for a study break, and the Central Park mall on Broadway covers your weekly groceries.
- Rooms are scarce and go fast here — the suburb is small and sits between two campuses — so start early and be ready to book an inspection when the right one appears. A listing's exact address only shows once you've booked that inspection, so message the host first to check the real walk to class and ask about noise, as some blocks back onto Broadway and the rail lines near Central and Redfern.
- If nothing in Chippendale fits, the adjoining streets of Ultimo, Darlington and Haymarket are the same short walk to class and just as popular with students. Wherever you look, don't send a deposit for a place you haven't inspected — Zuwu warns you if a message looks like a rental scam, but the safest move is always to view the room yourself, or ask someone you trust to go for you.
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