The ex-partner of the tenant Anthony Albanese is evicting from one of his properties has revealed why the rent at the Sydney home was kept so low – $680 a week.
On Wednesday, Jim Flanagan pleaded with the Prime Minister not to make him homeless after receiving a 90-day notice to vacate the three-bedroom house in Dulwich Hill, in Sydney’s inner west.
But in a recent TikTok live video filmed in March, his ex-partner, comedian Chrissy Flanagan, revealed that her name was still on the lease, even though she moved out months ago.
She now lives in a ‘glamorous shed’ in nearby Marrickville, which is also in the Prime Minister’s federal electorate of Grayndler.
“Albo is not my landlord yet… but yes, my ex still lives in Albo’s house,” Ms Flanagan explained.
‘My name is still on the lease because I don’t want his and my ex’s rent to go up, so I’m being overly generous because Albo gave us discounted rent at the beginning of the pandemic because we were small business owners. ‘
Chrissy Flanagan (pictured right), the ex-partner of the man Anthony Albanese (pictured left) is evicting from one of his properties, has revealed why the house’s rent remains so low.
Chrissy Flanagan (pictured) revealed her name was still on the lease, even though she moved out months ago.
Flanagan also revealed that she maintains a personal relationship with Albanese and is still “semi-friends with him.”
“Obviously I haven’t spoken to him since he became Prime Minister because he’s been so busy, but you know if I saw him on the street he would 100 per cent know me and kiss me.” she said.
Flanagan declined to comment on the saga between her ex and his landlord on Thursday, saying news.com.au that it was a matter between the two men.
Flanagan previously told Daily Mail Australia that Albanese was a good landlord who reduced his rent by 25 per cent during the pandemic.
“Not all politicians are the same in private as they are in public,” he said at the time.
“I just think if you get these little glimpses of what someone is really like, when no one’s looking, that tells you something.
“It’s just a small reflection of what a person is like privately and what they might be like when they have the opportunity to live their values more broadly.”
Ms Flanagan (left) said she had a personal relationship with Mr Albanese (right) and said: “I’m like semi-friends with him.”
Ms Flanagan and her ex-partner used to run a bar and restaurant together called Sausage Factory, which is now closed.
Albanese used to be a customer and was previously photographed with Flanagan holding sausage strips.
The Prime Minister grew up in public housing in Sydney but now owns a mortgage-free bungalow in Marrickville and the Dulwich Hill terraced house.
He splits his time between The Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney, rent-free and mortgage-free.
A shocked Flanagan received the eviction notice from his real estate agent on May 8, telling him that Albanese “may sell the house at some point.”
On Wednesday he made public his eviction order, calling it a “crippling blow.”
This was despite Albanese reducing Flanagan and his then-partner’s rent to $680 a week during the pandemic and not increasing it since.
The market price for a three-bedroom property in the area is currently around $800 a week.
Flanagan was prompted to try to stay at home after reading about the government’s $1.9 billion package to cut rental costs for vulnerable people announced in Tuesday’s Federal Budget.
“It just doesn’t sit well when (Mr Albanese) tries to be sympathetic to the majority of Australians who, like me, find the current climate extremely challenging,” he said.
But on Thursday, the Prime Minister rejected Flanagan’s request, saying he had been a good landlord.
“The person who is on the property, in their own words, says I have been a more than fair owner of that property,” Albanese told ABC Radio National presenter Patricia Karvelas.
The Prime Minister said he had the “right” to sell the property before his upcoming wedding to his partner Jodie Haydon.
Mr Albanese was asked if he would consider allowing Mr Flanagan to remain at the property a little longer.
Jim Flanagan (pictured) begged his landlord, Anthony Albanese, not to throw him out on the street after receiving an eviction notice.
“Well, he refused to have any discussions with the estate agent,” Mr Albanese said.
‘That’s your business. I wish him well. He has been well cared for for a long period of time.
‘I have the right to make decisions in my personal life, including the sale of property I own, because I wish to move my personal life in a different direction.
‘The property was purchased when my personal circumstances were different.
“He has lived there for four years. There were other people there at the time and their personal circumstances have changed.’
Flanagan also spoke on radio on Thursday and said he had “never refuted or questioned” that the Prime Minister had no right to evict him.
‘You have every right to issue a termination notice, 100 percent. Personally I have nothing against Albo. Or property owners,’ he said.
‘But I guess it’s just… when you’re a tenant, there’s an electrical disconnect between landlords and tenants.
‘Ideally, I guess we’re just looking for a bit more considered approach when it comes to evictions, redundancy issues and eviction notices.
“And I guess I was a little surprised that they wouldn’t allow me that.”
Mr Flanagan has been given 90 days to vacate the Dulwich Hill property (pictured)
Anthony Albanese also owns this house in Marrickville (pictured), which is for rent
Flanagan said he was “certainly not looking to ambush the Prime Minister”.
‘Before the story was published, I said the media had approached me, so I gave them absolutely every opportunity to respond.
“Unfortunately, I did not receive a response to those emails.”
The Prime Minister’s property portfolio had previously been estimated to be worth around $5 million, although he has since sold a two-bedroom unit in Canberra in 2022.
Albanese bought the Dulwich Hill property for $1.175 million in 2015 and it is now estimated to be worth between $1.9 million and $2.2 million.
He rents his old house in Marrickville, which has a pool in the backyard, for $1,350 a week.