My night in Melbourne’s viral space shuttle pods and why rental market is cooked
If a single bed, space shuttle-style pod rented for $250pw isn’t a sign the rental market is broken, I’m not sure what is. Here’s what it was like to stay in a “space pod” amid Melbourne’s rental crisis.
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“Karens are not welcomed” and do not expect “three-star hotel cleanliness” were the unorthodox booking messages I received ahead of my stay at Melbourne’s viral space pods.
The capsules, behind the facade of an unassuming two-storey house in Abbotsford, riled up the nation when listed through Facebook Marketplace a month ago.
Advertised for a startling $900 per month, or $250 a week, for a single bed and shared amenities, the pods became the internet’s symbol of a broken rental market.
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It’s understandable. As a renter myself, I pay just $100 more a month for my share in a three-bedroom house — on a sizeable block of land to boot — to the city’s north.
Upon arriving at the unconventional homestay, I found my way to the bedroom hosting six capsule pods stacked on top of each other, with seemingly hand cut curtains as doors.
A thin, crusty towel lay on my single mattress, alongside “USB charging ports” covered with duct tape peeled off on one side to reveal an old, flimsy socket.
A stack of coins left by the last guest (a handy score if the instant coffee didn’t cut it in the morning) were illuminated in the changing pink and purple lighting’s sci-fi glow.
In the communal living area, two fellow renters staying in the traditional bedrooms upstairs (available for $1500 per month), told me of their struggles to find more permanent accommodation since relocating to Melbourne from Sydney.
This camaraderie was helpful later after finding myself locked in the shared bathroom. These veterans were familiar with the idiosyncrasies of space pod life.
Finally, climbing in for the night, I slept surprisingly soundly, despite a lingering musty scent and my neighbour’s intrusive snoring.
I rose before the rest to check out the complimentary food provided (stale cookies, spreads, tea), and the courtyard punctuated by overfilled ashtrays and empty energy drink cans.
All in all, the ‘space pods’ seem to be worthy of their place in Melbourne’s difficult market as transitional accommodation — but I won’t be rushing out of my rental any time soon.
MELBOURNE’S RENTAL MARKET COOKED
Desperate would-be tenants are applying for properties before they can even inspect them as Victoria’s rental crisis worsens.
Melbourne and regional Victorian rents have soared to record levels and vacancy rates continue to tighten amid increasing competition for decreasing stock.
Tenants Victoria director of community engagement Farah Farouque said people were often having to apply for rental properties before they could even inspect.
“The pool of supply is so tight and there’s so much competition,” Ms Farouque said.
“Sometimes people are working multiple jobs, have savings and long rental histories, but even with those credentials they’re repeatedly missing out on affordable homes.”
Melbourne’s vacancy rate was at 1.7 per cent in June, according to SQM Research — the lowest it has been since March 2019.
House rents in Melbourne reached a drastic $566 per week in July, topping the pre-pandemic record of $554 per week of March 2020.
SQM research also showed the rental unit market rapidly increasing, with Melbourne units hitting a median $441 per week in July, topping the $425 per week record in February 2020.
Regional Victorian prices have also reached astronomical levels, with median house rent rising 10.5 per cent to reach $450 per week, and units up 10 per cent to $330, according to PropTrack’s June Rent Report.
PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said there “was no easy solution” to the supply issue as the state needed the rental stock “right now”.
He said Melbourne was on track to get below the 21-day record pace for rental listings to be snapped up on realestate.com.au, after coming in from 35 to 23 in the past 12 months.
“If the market continues to tighten up, days on site will fall below historic lows,” he said.
Total rental stock in Melbourne shrunk a dramatic 25.7 per cent over the past 12 months, according to PropTrack, as investors sell to owner occupiers and switch to short-stay accommodation.
The rising cost of home ownership is a significant factor in the huge demand for rentals, with latest PropTrack data revealing a third of all Victorian suburbs now have a median house price of more than $1m, pricing many out of the market.
More than a third of tenants around the state “feel the pinch every time they pay rent”, according to Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith.
It comes as cost of living pressures bite and rental providers look to raise rents where they can amid increasing interest rates and other pressures.
Wages are set to grow at the fastest pace in a decade over the next two years — but workers will still be going backwards as the cost of living soars by an alarming 7.75 per cent.
Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge said renting permanently was a reality for many and responses to housing affordability should not just focus on homebuyers.
Building more affordable and social housing are key parts of the solution, with Tenants Victoria calling for an increase to commonwealth rent assistance.
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam told the Herald Sun in July that renters were being “crunched” with rents rising “three to four times faster than wages”.
“Other countries use rent control to ensure rents stay affordable and we should too. The Greens are proposing limiting annual rent increases to average wage increases,” she said.
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emily.holgate@news.com.au
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