North Adelaide rental property raises eyebrows with $420p/w glass bathroom … inside the kitchen
A veteran accountant is the owner of a studio apartment with a frosted-glass bathroom in the kitchen.
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Ever wanted to continue your dinner party conversation in the loo?
This North Adelaide rental lets you do just that, with a glass box inside the kitchen for all your lavatory needs – partially frosted for privacy, of course.
The O’Connell Street apartment is listed for rent on realestate.com.au at $400 to $420 per week and described as a “spacious, fully furnished upstairs studio that offers the lifestyle everyone deserves”.
The property has a total internal floor space of 25 metres squared, a “modern kitchen” and “open-plan” studio bedroom.
The kitchen appears to have a dishwasher and sink but no cooktop or oven.
Its baffling dunny design has raised eyebrows online, with some labelling it “bleak” and questioning the bedroom with a poo view and another likening it to “your first Custom House in The Sims”.
The property is owned by North Adelaide accountant Nicholas Birdseye, who is currently suing the Australian Taxation Office for defamation after it decided to strike him off as a tax agent.
Mr Birdseye was a tax agent from 1981 until being deregistered in 2020.
His firm, Claim It SA, was placed in liquidation last year with debts of $96,000 after the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) upheld a decision to terminate its registration, but lifted a five-year ban on re-registration.
Mr Birdseye is seeking compensation from the ATO for the damage caused to his reputation, the loss of revenue from clients and the drop in value of his business.
The Advertiser has reached out to Mr Birdseye for comment.
Ray White North Adelaide principal Rachel Lawrie said the unusual home was actually a reflection of the sad reality of the Adelaide rental market.
The apartment, which was previously an Airbnb, could be used as a short-term rental for tenants struggling to find properties elsewhere, with a three-month lease on offer that can be broken if they find another home.
“This is a fantastic interim property that will help people who need a rental record,” Ms Lawrie said.
“People may think they are small but they are a fully furnished studio apartment and the weekly rent includes all utilities and internet included so there are no extra outlays.
“Just bring your clothes … this ticks the boxes.”
There are seven apartments in the building and Ms Lawrie said she had helped three previous tenants to move out with excellent references to re-lease elsewhere.
She said there had been huge interest in the studio apartments, which were fully compliant with all council requirements.
The property was expected to be tenanted by the end of the week.
“These units are ideal for short term stays in an outstanding location,” Ms Lawrie said.
“We wouldn’t let anyone into the home unless they’ve seen it and they know what they’re agreeing to.”
Similarly priced properties in the area provide a little more privacy than the loo-lover’s paradise, with a $325p/w studio apartment on Gover Street offering a solid wall between the bathroom and kitchen.
On Melbourne Street, prospective tenants can snap themselves up an extra bedroom and an oven for $390p/w.
A short drive away in Klemzig, renters could spend the same on a suburban three-bedroom home.
Desperate times as tenants ‘beg’ for houses
With prices soaring and vacancies at their all-time lowest, it’s no wonder desperate South Australian renters are prepared to take whatever they can find.
An experienced agent, Ms Lawrie said she had been left heartbroken by the state of Adelaide’s rental market, with prospective tenants “begging” for houses.
Real Estate Institute of SA acting CEO Cain Cooke said the North Adelaide property’s listing price was most likely an accurate reflection of a soaring market.
Mr Cooke said people were willing to pay high prices just to secure a roof over their heads.
“What’s happening in the market is there’s so much demand and not enough supply. In a 12-month period we’re down about 28.5 per cent in listings as far as rental properties goes,” he said.
“We’ve got huge pent-up demand, undersupply, and I think the market is effectively taking care of this stuff in the way it’s priced.
“These things are always driven by market activity so if people are saying they’re willing to pay higher prices, by virtue of that, landlord’s expectations are rising.
“We think that there’s actually a significant housing crisis. We see people living with friends, in temporary accommodation … that’s a problem we need to solve collectively, we need more properties in the market.”
One advertisement on Gumtree offers “affordable long-term accommodation” – in the form of a caravan for hire for $150p/w.
“We offer a door-to-door service at no charge with a minimum of 3 months hire. We do require a $500 bond for the duration of the hire,” the ad reads.
“We can bring to a family member‘s home, a free campsite or even to a caravan park for you to at least have a roof over your head until you get your house rent sorted.”
Since 2017, rents have risen 24.3 per cent for houses and 17.4 per cent for units.
Adelaide’s caravan parks have been “inundated” with cries for help from desperate people who have been squeezed out of a tight rental market.
Long-stay onsite vans and cabins are full, overflowing into more expensive holiday parks that only accept short stays.
Earlier this month, The Advertiser also revealed 120 available Housing Trust homes were sold last financial year.
Shelter SA CEO Dr Alice Clark said “desperate times” meant most private rentals were now out of reach for low-income earners.
“Before this vacancy rate went so low people living on low incomes couldn’t afford private rental anyway, but it’s now much worse,” Dr Clark said.
“We’re hearing stories from people who are not having their leases renewed because the landlord wants to increase the rent by a significant amount … which they cannot pay.
“The tenant hasn’t done anything wrong but they join a very long queue of people competing for rentals.”
While the frosted-glass bathroom might not be for everyone, Dr Clark said the construction of small, modular housing could be a way to ease current rental pressures.
“They would probably not be much bigger than that unit, but if you had a choice of sleeping out in a tent or unsheltered it could be a solution,” she said.
Have you seen a crazy rental? Share it with us: Email emily.olle@news.com.au
For more coverage of SA’s rental crisis, head here.
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