Yahoo Finance $450-flat with kitchen in garage sparks outrage
An advertisement for a Melbourne studio flat has caused outrage for having its kitchen located in the garage while demanding $450 rent per week.
The apartment, in the inner city neighbourhood of Richmond, was spotted this week listed on real estate classifieds site Domain.com.au for $450 per week and the website of the real estate agent Hocking Stuart for $495 per week.
The layout posted on Domain clearly shows the kitchen placed within the garage, complete with a picture of how a car would be parked in front of the sink.
The Hocking Stuart advertisement showed the agent describing the layout as “too good to refuse” with the kitchenette in “a space large enough to entertain or use as off-street parking for one car”.
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The advertisements have since been removed from both platforms, but not before social media users reacted to both the odd layout and the high rent.
“Is this for real? Kitchen in the garage? Walk in the front door and THROUGH the toilet… living situation in Melbourne is grim, grim I tell ya!” said Cory Gale on Twitter.
The federal member for Melbourne, the Greens’ Adam Bandt, also expressed his concern on social media.
“Housing in this country is cooked. Time to stop treating it as a way for developers to make millions & instead make affordable housing a basic human right.”
Fairfax Media reported that Bandt had written to Consumer Affairs Victoria to ask if the ad met consumer protection requirements.
Yarra City Council reportedly visited the studio on Thursday afternoon, when the owner claimed that the ads were old and should not have been posted.
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