William Woodbridge, a University of Canberra student, has been living on the homemade raft for six weeks, since tiring of Canberra's rental market and the increasing costs of living in university accommodation.

After negotiations, the 21-year-old has been told to remove the raft and teepee by March 30.

A spokeswoman for the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate said the ACT Government was helping Mr Woodbridge find alternative accommodation after granting him an extension, allowing him to stay on the lake till the end of the month. ''A condition to this is that it is not allowed to relocate on any other public body of water in the ACT,'' she said.

But this condition may prove problematic for Woodbridge, who intends to continue living rough somewhere on the water.

''I'm not that interested in moving back into a house,'' he said.

He moved to Canberra at the age of 16 and has struggled to find an affordable home, experiencing everything from share houses to living out of the back of a car.

Affordable student housing remains a prominent issue among Canberra's youth, despite new residences being opened at both the University of Canberra and the Australian National University recently. For Mr Woodbridge, the cost of having a roof over his head wasn't worth the hours spent away from his studies.

''A lot of students I know, even with Centrelink, still have to work long hours,'' he said.

''Before this I had to work 20 to 30 hours a week just to feed myself. It really does take a toll.''

After receiving a fine at his on-campus accommodation, he decided to abandon conventional housing. Within days the industrial design student had fashioned his floating home, consisting of a deck and teepee housing a bed and ice box. The makeshift accommodation has lacked power since someone stole his generator, but he said getting back to basics was comforting.

''I could probably finish my degree out on the lake, if they'd let me,'' he said.

This reporter is on Twitter: @stephanieando