Landlords take advantage of Australia’s rental crisis with $350 garden shed and $330 wooden box
The reality of renting in Australia’s biggest cities in 2023: Landlord rage puts a garden shed up for rent for $350 – while another rents out a wooden bed frame for $330
- The rental crisis in Sydney and Melbourne has been exposed
- A gazebo and rickety wooden decking are listed online
- Both are advertised for hundreds of dollars in rent
The shocking magnitude of the rental crisis in Sydney and Melbourne has been exposed by a pair of advertisements urging tenants to pay hundreds of dollars for a gazebo or ramshackle wooden platform.
A converted garden shed is advertised on Facebook for $350 a month in an unnamed suburb of Melbourne – described as an open space with enough room for three beds plus a bathroom.
Astroturf is used as a carpet and an old mattress is on the floor, as shown in photos from Daily Mail Australia.
It may look like a typical garden shed, but for an enterprising landlord, this is a bedroom advertised for $350 a month
Inside the shed is an astroturf rug and single mattress stacked on the floor with wooden planks above
As an alternative to Sydneysiders, renters have the option of a bizarre wooden loft in downtown Pyrmont for $330 a week.
Photos uploaded to Flatmates.com.au show a wooden box raised above the ground with room for a mattress, but not much else.
The ad describes a living room below as a separate common area.
The room is shared with another tenant who also lives in a loft, although theirs has “a private bus and a relaxation area underneath.”
The loft available for rent in early March, “which is the largest,” shares the space below, according to the ad, but privacy is ensured with a door separating the two spaces.
The unique loft is located ‘in a beautiful historic building’ according to the listing, was looking for a tenant willing to stay for a minimum of nine months near Sydney’s CBD.
This rickety loft (pictured), a homemade wooden box with exposed nails hammered into the exterior, was advertised for $330 a week
The attic had a small coat rack above the ladder leading up to it
There have been ‘staggering’ rent increases across Australia, with rates in Melbourne’s CBD rising by 42 per cent over the past year, while rents in suburbs around NSW have risen by more than 30 per cent, according to a PropTrack Rental Report.
Last week, Daily Mail Australia reported a metal shed touted as a ‘granny flat’ is about to be demolished after it was found to be in breach of state and municipal codes.
Meanwhile, in early February of this year, a balcony in Sydney with tarpaulin and curtains acting as walls was being offered for as much as $300 a week.
The tiny room, barely big enough for a single bed, generated ‘a lot of interest’, according to the landlord.
Reportedly, “permanent” tents appeared in Melbourne during the housing shortage there, with prices ranging from $90 to $130 a week on balconies in the city’s CBD.
The “granny flat” was listed online for $1,000 a month (pictured) before complaints led to the Campbelltown council ordering its demolition.
This “converted balcony” (pictured) “generated a lot of interest” according to the person who posted the ad on Facebook
‘Permanent’ tents (pictured) found on balconies, particularly in Melbourne, have been another option for desperate Australian tenants.