We’re all for getting more bang for your buck but this Australian property listing has taken the phrase to the extreme.
The Aussie rental market is tough right now. Nationwide vacancies are at an all-time low while prices are up an astonishing 30 percent, according to data obtained by Reuters.
As many tenants are being priced out of houses, it means that some renters are being forced to compromise on space, storage and sometimes even privacy to live in their desired area.
According to official data, prices across Australia's entire rental stock rose by 7.6 percent in the third quarter of 2023 and inflation is expected to peak at 10 percent in the next few quarters before easing off again.
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Due to the scarcity of properties, some landlords and tenants are getting creative with how many people they can fit into their homes.
Recently, a single 'room' for rent in Sydney was advertised on Facebook Market Place for a wild price.
The space was posted for a staggering $185 per week but here’s the plot twist; it doesn’t feature any walls and it’s actually situated in somebody’s living room.
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The first showed a single mattress placed on top of lino flooring. Around the mattress were room dividers, seemingly used to mimic the use of traditional Japanese shoji.
There seemed to be no storage included in the listing and if you zoom in on the image, you can see that there’s a power point located at the foot of the mattress.
Silver linings, right?
An image of the properties shared bathroom was also posted to social media, while the description of the rental read: “Hello Rockies!! Im (sic) looking for 1 boy to live in LIVING ROOM.
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“$185 / week / person. Available at NOW.”
Elsewhere in the listing, it was revealed that amenities such as Wi-Fi, dishwashing liquid and water were all included in the space.
While the property market in Sydney is pretty hot, a real estate agent claimed that there were signs of it cooling down late last year.
Christian Postiglione, an agent in Sydney's expensive eastern suburbs, which include Bondi Beach, said in October: "Compared with the beginning of the year, it's way quieter now.
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“We would have 40 to 50 groups per inspection around January and February... the volume is very kind of low now.”
However, it isn’t all doom and gloom Down Under as one landlord has opened up about why he refuses to raise his rental rates.
Retired farmer John Webb, 90, currently rents out his two-bedroom property in Alban to fellow retiree, Carl Tilney.
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Tilney currently pays $180 a week to live in the single-storey home and has done so for the last two decades.
Mind you, that’s just $5 less than the living room space that was being advertised on Facebook!
Speaking to ABC News, Webb explained: “In country communities, you look after each other... it's a part of me.
“Why shouldn't we help each other? We shouldn't have to live in cars and out in the streets.”
Tilney told the outlet that he would probably be living out of his vehicle if it wasn’t for his landlord’s kindness.
"I couldn't have done it without John," he said. "Otherwise I would be living in my car. There's no way I could afford anything else that's around.
“I don't know what I would do without it and we get on, that's the main thing.”
Ella Scott