Cr Jieh-Yung Lo's plan for an accommodation policy to improve the location, design and management standards of student housing was adopted at a council meeting last week.

The Department of Planning and Community Development will now assess the plan for possible inclusion in the Monash Planning Scheme.

As a former student, Cr Lo said he understood the struggle to find suitable accommodation.

"It's been quite clear that demand for suitable student accommodation in Monash has outstripped the supply available on the ground," he said.

"Growing incidents of overcrowding and inadequate facilities for study is also a growing concern.

"Monash Residential Services at Clayton campus only has 1200 beds, which is a major concern considering that there are currently some 60,000 students attending tertiary institutions in Monash."

Cr Lo said that through consultations with students and tertiary institutions, the council had identified that limited space often presented serious impacts on the lives of students.

The new guide could increase the supply of quality student housing to help meet existing demands and improve the minimum standard of room sizes, student amenities and open space.

The policy identified preferred areas for student accommodation were within 1.5 kilometres of a tertiary institution, which covered about 50 per cent of residential areas in Monash.

Cr Lo hopes that improvements to student accommodation would make Monash a better and fairer place to live and study.