A Sydney rental is raising eyebrows for its “prison cell”-esque qualities despite having an asking price of $400 per week.
The one-bedroom, one-bathroom studio – which appears to be the kitchen and bathroom backroom of a shop front – has sparked the ire of TikToker Rach McQueen.
She pointed out in a social media video that the bare room measures around 6sq m.
That’s actually smaller than a prison cell in Australia, she said, which is required to be 8.75sq m for just one inmate.
Among the other delights of the listing, in the inner west suburb of Redfern, was a “portable oven” which was nowhere to be seen.
“The portable oven is so portable it decided not to be in the apartment,” one person noted.
A $1520 bond is required for the property. A floorplan was “unavailable” on the listing.
The ‘studio’ was advertised as being “positioned on the doorstep of Redfern’s cafes and parkland, and only moments to eateries and galleries and bus and rail transport”.
It was described as having a “loft style sleeping area” with an “urban, warehouse feel”.
The property’s “natural sunlight, was also spruiked, but social media was not impressed.
“Natural sunlight AKA we are too cheap to install curtains,” someone commented online.
The property was listed by Belle Property. News.com.au has contacted them for comment.
“Renters don’t deserve better conditions than prisoners, they ARE prisoners, right? To capitalism,” Ms McQueen said. “Not a joke, just a fact.”
It appears Sydney renters are fighting back, as the property has been listed since May, and is still available now.
The price has since been revised down to $380 since it caught the attention of people on TikTok.
Another Sydney rental has also raised eyebrows.
A Haymarket hostel, called Hostel Tequila Sunrise, has taken to advertising its wares on social media, incluing that a bed in the 50-bed hostel can be rented out for $350 per week.
After five weeks, this weekly rate is disocunted, to $336 per week.
“For $350 a week in Sydney you get…a bunk bed,” noted one person.
“But it comes with a curtain, so really, what as bargain.”
News.com.au contacted Hostel Tequila Sunrise Sydney for comment.
It comes as Australia is caught in the throes of a rental crisis, causing many property investors drive up prices as it is a “landlord’s market”.
The latest figure from SQM Research found that the national rental vacancy rate sits at 1.2 per cent in April, the tightest it’s been in years.
At the end of last month, off the back of news of a 12th interest rate hike in as many months, governor of Australia’s central bank, Phillip Lowe, sparked outraged when he addressed the housing crisis in parliament.
He said the obvious solution was to get a housemate to share the load of the bills.
This is already proving true.
“The higher prices do lead people to economise on housing, don’t they? Kids don’t move out of home because the rent is too expensive, or you decide to get a flatmate or a housemate,” the governor said at the time.
“We need more people on average to live in each dwelling and prices do that.”
Last week, news.com.au reported that some rentals were being advertised where rooms had multiple beds, meaning renters are now facing not even having their own private room.
Earlier this year, other rental ads also raised eyebrows.
In February, a landlord advertised a tin shed in the back of their property for $1000 a month.
Another Sydney landlord advertised their patch of grass in April, with the hopes they could charge a renter money for pitching a tent there.