Yahoo Finance Rent crisis: Picture exposes dire situation for Aussies as prices more than double
As tenants struggle with risings costs, an expert has claimed rents are being unfairly inflated.
Aussies are all feeling the pinch in a cost-of-living crisis but tenants seem to be bearing the brunt with rent prices for some homes increasing by 58.2 per cent in less than three years.
According to the NSW Tenants' Union, rents on three-bedroom apartments in the Sydney postcode of 2000 have increased by $460 a week since the last "set rent period" of May 2021.
While tenants have long known about the dire situation in Sydney, it became a talking point this week when a Mascot apartment in the city's inner-south was listed for an eye-watering $1,400 a week, after being advertised at $650 just two and a half years ago.
That's an extra $750 a week - more than double the rental price for the same home in 2021.
"No rental crisis to see here," a Reddit user captioned a post, which was flooded with comments from disgruntled Aussies who did not hold back on their gripes about the cost of renting across the nation.
'No limit' to rental price hikes
CEO of the NSW Tenants' Union Leo Patterson Ross told Yahoo Finance there was "no limit" on what a landlord could list a property for, however, there does need to be a "clear single amount" and not a range (like $350-$450) or use language like "offers above".
"Given the importance of housing to ensuring healthy, dignified lives, this doesn't match how we treat other essential services," Patterson Ross said.
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"The issue is that ... we do not have enough homes available that meet the needs of the community and there are a growing number of landlords and agents who are utilising the shortage to increase rents.
"While costs of servicing mortgages have increased, there is a wide variance in how much this impacts individual rental homes — one in four rental properties in NSW have no loan at all but rents have been greatly increased anyway."
'Pure and utter greed'
Property agent Century 21 Masterpiece, who listed the property, also required a $5,500 bond and said the spacious apartment was located in a luxury complex designed by award-winning architects MHN Design Union and was a short stroll from "trains, shops, cafes, and dining options".
The two-bathroom apartment — which comes with "secured double parking" and is estimated to be worth between $1.04m and $1.36m, according to Domain — was listed for rent on Tuesday and is currently under contract, meaning a new owner is in the process of buying it.
"Pure and utter greed. Nothing less," one Redditor posted of the rental price.
Another quipped, "Man, they must have renovated the s**t out of it and added so much value to bump it up $750 per week."
"Any apartments in Sydney. Every single one is up and up and up," one exasperated Sydneysider added.
A fourth commenter said: "I rent and I'm also a landlord. Both properties have only gone up by 3 per cent in rent over the past two years. I don't know where these rental increases are happening."
Rental squeeze felt across Australia
It's not just Sydney; the rental squeeze is being felt across the country.
One Western Australian resident shared their experience, saying, "Rents have tripled in the last six years or so where I am in Pilbara. House I was in six years ago was $400 per week now $1,100 per week. Craziness. And only going up every renewal."
Patterson Ross told Yahoo Finance the Union's Rent Increase Negotiation Kit indicated that, by taking the cut-off date as May this year, rental prices in the 2000 postcode had increased by 58.2 per cent since May 2021.
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