‘Only access is through kindergarten’: Unusual Sydney rental listing slammed for entry restrictions, cleaning requests
An eastern suburbs unit is on the market for $950 a week, but it comes with unusual conditions that have been slammed.
NSW
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At $950 per week this three-bedroom property in Sydney’s east might seem a bargain in today’s rental crisis, but tenants beware – no “coming and going” during certain hours, no guests, and enter via the downstairs kindergarten.
Properties in the sought-after area near Bondi Junction command a median price of $1450 so in exchange for the “lower rent” tenants are required to clean and garden.
The NSW Tenant Union says the Queens Park unit listing is full of red flags as potential occupants are told it is “located above child care centre and only access is through kindergarten to unit”.
“Occupants are required not to come and go during kindergarten hours and no guests are permitted during kindergarten hours,” the listing stated.
Tenants must agree to clean the kindergarten playground before 8.30am, present bins for council collection each week, tidy gardens each month and perform other unspecified tasks to be “provided at the inspection”.
The advertisement was removed from the Wills Property website shortly after inquiries were made by The Daily Telegraph with leasing agents offering “no comment”.
Tenants’ Union of NSW Chief Executive Officer Leo Patterson Ross said “the red flags are flying high in this ad”.
“The main two are attempting to restrict access to and from the premises while the child care is open - 10 hours a day during the week - as well as requiring caretaker responsibilities,” Patterson Ross said.
“There are all sorts of safety concerns with these - for the tenant who can’t access or leave their home, and for the children.”
He also said that $950 – or $50,000 over the course of a year – was an “eye-watering amount for such a poor deal”.
Patterson Ross said the rental listing “really speaks to some of the compromises renters are being forced to make and the disregard some people have for renters’ wellbeing”.
Originally published as ‘Only access is through kindergarten’: Unusual Sydney rental listing slammed for entry restrictions, cleaning requests
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