Single mum Gemma Toogood paid $875 a week in rent for a mould-riddled, rat-infested cottage that had no insulation and was missing internal doors.
The 40-year-old had little recourse that would see real and timely change to her living conditions. Her landlord has so far been more or less allowed to get away with it as the current laws stand and in the current market where Sydney rents just hit another record high of $700 a week for the typical unit and $750 for the typical house.
Gemma had to break her lease after discovering a rat infestation in her former home. It was the last straw for the single mother who had copped a $50 rental increase on the home that was riddled with problems. She has now moved. Credit: Louise Kennerley
But in the court of public opinion, the tide is turning on whether that is reasonable or acceptable.
Toogood, who at one point received a $50 rent increase, said she emailed the agent multiple times, asking the landlord to fix these issues as they arose.
“They told me to buy a dehumidifier [for the mould] and close the doors. The property has no doors between the rooms,” Toogood said.
By the time the rats set in, she was couch-surfing with friends until she eventually broke the lease to find a safer roof over her head, and it cost her dearly.
“I put myself into financial debt to move suddenly, and it took five weeks to find a new place,” Toogood said. “It’s a completely uneven balance of power. It feels like they’re acting with impunity.”
Other services less essential than housing are better regulated and the person or business providing them can be penalised for less.
Take hospitality for example, says Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive of the Tenants’ Union of NSW.
“Food safety laws remain in place regardless of whether you have a customer or not at a restaurant,” he said. “As a person going to the restaurant, you don’t have to go and check if the kitchen is clean and is being run well. We can rely on food safety standards.”
He said the onus is on every individual tenant to enforce minimum standards that did not even exist five years ago.
The minimum standards, introduced in 2020, include the most rudimentary list such as a toilet, hot and cold water and a structurally sound home. Beyond that, it is up for debate as any tenant who has fought with their landlord and/or agent would know.
Real Estate Institute of NSW chief executive Tim McKibbin said the existing legislation was enough and tenants had the option of taking non-compliant landlords to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“The existing law is there and regulates the market well but unless it’s enforced then there will be non-compliance with it,” McKibbin said. He is more concerned that rental reforms would reduce investment activity and lead to fewer rentals for tenants.
It’s little comfort to renters like Gemma, who spent time communicating with her property manager – and hundreds of dollars – trying to resolve the mould and rats in her home.
Sydney already has an ultra-low vacancy rate, without any significant reforms yet in place. Research also shows investors sell their rental properties when they’ve made a profit, rather than tapping out because of dissatisfaction with tenancy law reforms.
With a growing middle-class realisation that the city is stuck in an entrenched escalation of the rental crisis, there is increasing acceptance, and expectation, from the community, including many decent landlords, that if they choose to invest in property it should come with greater strings attached than the status quo.
Patterson Ross said other essential services, like water and electricity, have better checks and balances along the way for prices and quality, than the two million mum and dad landlords who provide shelter for others.
“[Landlords] are almost infantilised ... as the kid at the lemonade stand who doesn’t know what they’re doing and don’t have the same professional obligations as the business selling lemonade.”
He said the government has no register of rental properties, what condition they are in or any disclosure of the issues the tenant might face based on past experiences – all within the scope of government to implement as a way of keeping landlords better accountable.
But as it stands, Gemma’s landlord can re-list the cottage on the market tomorrow if they wanted. It would be snapped up in this rental crisis and there would be nothing to prevent the next tenant from going through the same painful and expensive journey.
Clarification: Gemma Toogood found a rat infestation in her former home, not the one she is photographed in front of.