It sounds like a renting nightmare but for one woman it was her reality for eight long months, trapped in a toxic battle with her landlord.
The landlord at times literally blocked her from entering her own backyard in Silverdale, Sydney’s south west, as he worked fastidiously on it — daily.
Maneeca Belbin life told A Current Affair that while she signed her lease aware there would be landscaping and concrete works, she was told it would be “minor” and only last three months.
Yet after eight months the yard looked like a construction site.
“Having him here seven days a week, all day, every day, is not what I paid for,” she said.
“I’d get home from work and he would tell me the water was turned off.”
The pastry chef said finding a property in Sydney is “extremely hard”.
“I spent about six months looking before I found this,” she said.
Ms Belbin said it had got to a point where she no longer felt comfortable in her own home but she stayed in the property because the Sydney rental market has become so overpriced.
Her tale comes as more and more renters face difficult living conditions and massive rent hikes.
Tenants Union of NSW Policy Team Lead Leo Patterson Ross said the number of calls they have received from tenants inquiring about rental increases and complaining about living conditions has more than doubled in recent months.
“It’s a really tough time for tenants,” he said.
“People are scared of being forced back into the market so they are in a weak position when dealing with their landlord.”
According to SQM Research, Sydney rents have risen by 25.3 per cent in the last three years, with rental vacancy rates also at a nine-year low.
— with NCA NewsWire