Aussies lose it over ‘nightmare' Sydney rental

News.com.au

15 hours ago

Have you ever wanted to quite literally sh*t where you eat? Well, now you can!
A Sydney rental has sparked widespread ridicule and outrage after listing for $1350 per week – more than $70,000 annually – with one its two bathrooms absurdly located right opposite the kitchen sink.
Tucked away on Metropolitan Road in Enmore, the four-bedroom, two-bathroom terrace boasts high ceilings, a sunroom and a balcony, and is described as 'oversized, freshly painted with a new kitchen and no parking space.'
The property, which has since gone viral online, sparked fierce backlash from unimpressed Aussies.
'You know the rental market is bad if you have to shower where you cook,' wrote one.
'This has to be a joke,' wrote another.
'Wow, Australia is really dropping its standards,' said a third.
Aussie property advocate Jordan Van De Lamb told news.com.au that it's 'atrocious'.
'I think it's pretty atrocious that real estate agencies and landlords are able to get away with listing rentals that clearly do not meet building codes at exorbitant prices and that the government is happy to sit on their hands and do nothing.
'This is just one of many examples of sh*t rentals, not just in Sydney – but all over the country.
'It's so urgent that we do something about this, but the lack of response from the government has allowed parasites to keep inflating their profits while our living standards decline,' he added.
A sign of the times
Data from realestate.com.au shows the Inner West's median weekly rent sits around $950, making this property a significant outlier. Similar four-bedroom homes nearby are typically advertised between $1100 and $2000 per week, though most offer a more conventional floor plan.
The bizarre listing comes amid a concerning rental crisis gripping Sydney, with the city's vacancy rate hovering around 1.6 per cent.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) has warned the country is on track to face a shortfall of almost 393,000 homes by 2029. Pushing rents higher and forcing tenants to settle for properties with compromises they once might have rejected outright.
The incident comes less than a month after a Sydney renter shared footage exposing the shocking conditions of her inner west rental.
The woman, who paid $240 a week to live in Petersham, shared a clip on social media showing her so-called 'room': A converted shipping container with a single window.
Inside the house – shared with nine other tenants – she revealed grim living conditions including two shared bathrooms, both covered in greasy floors and littered with toilet rolls.
In one bathroom, the entire toilet seat lay on the floor, detached, while an unfazed cockroach
crawled across the ceiling light.
In NSW, landlords and agents are required to make sure rental properties meet seven minimum standards for tenants to live there.
These standards include: be structurally sound, have adequate natural or artificial lighting in each room, have adequate ventilation, be supplied with electricity or gas, have adequate plumbing and drainage, have a water connection that can supply hot and cold water and have bathroom facilities that allow users' privacy.