With no end in sight to Australia’s rental crisis, it’s natural that many are looking for someone to blame – and landlords seem to be the most obvious villain.
But a Brisbane councillor’s suggestion for renters to leave notes out for prospective tenants, exposing any faults of the property or – controversially – its agent or owner, has sparked a heated debate among social media users.
“If you’re moving out of a rental and your landlord/agent is showing the property to new prospective tenants, consider leaving some notes or posters like this in a few prominent locations around the home,” Greens councillor for Woolloongabba, Jonathan Sriranganathan, wrote in a post on Facebook, alongside a photo of eight signs, written on sheets of paper, taped to a wall.
“NOTE TO SELF,” the first reads, followed by warnings of recurring mould, a nearby construction site, and “non-negotiable”, “required” rent increases.
“HAZARD – Re-occurring (sic) MOULD in main Bathroom – ceiling covered.
“Re-occurring (sic) MOULD in Air-con main room & Loungeroom.
“Bathroom Mould – 12 months+ Aircon mould – 12 months+.
“CONSTRUCTION SITE Excessive noise from 6am daily [and] RATS.
“House has excessive DUST from construction site/Train.
“Previous RENT INCREASE of $75/week (6 months ago).
“OWNER ‘requires’ rent increases & is non-negotiable.”
Councillor Sriranganathan added that “legally, an agent or landlord shouldn’t be touching or interfering” with the posters “in any way” – meaning they could not take them down if spotted during a property showing or inspection.
“A landlord’s right to enter a property to show it to prospective tenants does not give them any rights to interfere with the tenants’ property,” he went on to explain.
“It’s a pretty straightforward legal position and widely accepted that when you rent a property from someone, your landlord doesn’t have the right to come into your house and move stuff around.”
Whether Cr Sriranganathan’s post constituted “great advice” or “sabotage” left hundreds of people in the comments divided – with some accusing him of “encouraging tenants to act maliciously”.
“I think it is disgraceful for an elected member to promote sabotage,” one person wrote.
To which another responded: “It’s not sabotage if it’s true.”
“I think it’s disgraceful for some landlords to expect tenants to pay top dollar for unhealthy homes,” agreed a second person.
“Sabotage? I think you mean, exposes your sh*t housing and lack of ability to maintain a property, but still bill tenants for unclean conditions,” a third wrote.
“If a landlord is willing to sacrifice their tenant’s health, they deserve to be sabotaged.”
Another said that “for far too long landlords have had free reign to abuse their power with no sort of recording or accountability of their behaviour”.
One woman wrote that if you’re a “good” landlord, “there’s nothing to worry about”.
“If the apartment I rented in 2019 that was full of mould and a number of other major health and safety hazards had a warning then I wouldn’t have ended up constantly in hospital … And the fact that they tried to take our bond for a cockroach that was in a shower and leaves on the balcony when they’d left it beyond the legal amount of time to check the bond clean/state of [the] house.”
Others wondered if this kind of act would hinder the exiting tenants’ chances of being accepted for future properties.
“Good luck with getting a positive rental reference after pulling a stunt like that,” one wrote.
“That sounds like a dodgy tenant got an eviction notice for not keeping the place clean and has a chip on their shoulders. I’d make sure they get the appropriate reference for their next rental application.”
Given the current state of the rental market – an increasingly heated competition for a dwindling supply of housing stock – it’s a valid concern.
The national rental vacancy rate is at an all-time low of just 0.9 per cent, forcing staggeringly high prices for every available property. Though so-called “rent bidding” has been outlawed in NSW – with calls for other jurisdictions to follow suit – in a bid to stabilise soaring prices, it has done little to reverse the trend.
According to one listing agent, more than 100 people lodge an application for every apartment that’s up for rent in Sydney – and 80 per cent of them are offering more than the listed price.
Across the NSW capital, there has been a 20 per cent increase in registrations to inspect properties in the last 12 months.
PropTrack economic research director Cameron Kusher warned earlier this month that the ongoing crisis isn’t going anywhere soon.
“Demand for rentals is far outstripping supply, pushing weekly rents higher and the vacancy rate lower,” Mr Kusher said, after a PropTrack report showed properties listed on realestate.com.au for less than $400 per week fell to 17.6 per cent in February 2023 – the lowest it’s been since 2018.
“With demand for rentals intensifying, we see no reprieve for tenants in the coming months.
“The fall in the availability of more affordable rentals and the surging competition for rental stock is creating challenges for those on lower incomes or government support payments as they try to source increasingly scarce rental accommodation.”