Grim reality in the hunt for a rental in Qld
They are listed as some of Queensland’s cheapest ‘rentals’ but there is a catch. See the so-called cheapest rentals currently on the market.
They are listed as some of Queensland’s cheapest ‘rentals’ but there is a catch.
You can’t actually live in some of them, and others may require you to share a room with a backpacker.
Social media is full of desperate tenants trying to put a roof over their heads, including some who have resorted to living in tents, but a search of real estate portals makes for grim reading.
At a time when finding an affordable place to live is paramount, tenants are navigating rental listings that are more akin to those suited to commercial, sharehouse and holiday booking sites.
For $59 a week, a storage shed at Kippa-Ring is listed as a “house” and is the cheapest so-called rental that comes up for tenants looking for a place to live.
Another storage shed in Allenstown is also listed under “house” for $80 a week, but at least this one specifically says “not approved for tenancies”.
Then there is the $145 per week room in a sharehouse at Loganholme, and the $150 per night “overnight accommodation” on Macleay Island.
Or perhaps a bed in a backpackers at Ayr for $150 a week might be the solution.
The cheapest actual house is a two bedroom “farm house” in Arriga, west of Mareeba, which is listed for $220 a week.
Described as “cosy”, it features airconditioning and a spacious laundry room and not much else.
A two bedroom cottage with a sleep-out is listed for $250 a week in Wowan, a tiny rural town with a population of about 170 people inland from Gladstone.
Then there is a three bedroom house in Longreach which is listed for $275 a week and two bedroom houses for $280 a week in Mount Isa and Jandowae.
In Brisbane, the cheapest place to rent is a studio in share accommodation which is listed for $165 a week in Toowong.
On the Gold Coast, where the vacancy rate is 1.3 per cent, down from 1.7 per cent in July, the cheapest options are sharehouses starting from $250 a room.
The cheapest house is a renovated two-bedroom property at Stapylton for $460 a week.
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It is a similar story on the Sunshine Coast, where a room in a sharehouse starts at $150 a week in Kenilworth, and it is not available until April.
From there, prices ratchet up to $380 a week for a room in a sharehouse duplex at Buderim.
A one bedroom tiny house at Eumundi is listed for $400 a week but it is fully furnished and the price includes utilities.
The Sunshine Coast vacancy rate is currently 1 per cent, down from 1.4 per cent in June, according to SQM REsearch.
Up north, the cheapest rental in Cairns is a student room in a sharehouse at Smithfield for $220 a week.
South of the city, the cheapest house is a three bedroom duplex listed for $400 a week, with that increasing to $430 from April next year.
Meanwhile, rooms in sharehouses start from $170 a week in Townsville, with the cheapest two bedroom unit listed for $320 a week in Garbutt.
The vacancy rates in Cairns and Townsville are 1.1 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.
The latest PropTrack Market Insight Report recently revealed that the national vacancy rate fell for the third consecutive month in September, dropping 0.06 percentage points to just 1.34 per cent.
They fell 0.06 per cent in Brisbane last month to 1.13 per cent, according to PropTrack.
Vacancy rates across the combined regions of Queensland fell 0.1 per cent to 1.08 per cent.
REA Group senior economist Anne Flaherty said regional markets nationally “have persistently seen vacancies fall, with the combined regional vacancy rate sitting 0.09 percentage points lower than 12 months ago”.
“The gap between capital city and regional vacancy rates has consistently widened over the
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past five months, with regional vacancy now sitting 0.31 percentage points below capital city levels,” she said.
Recent reviews on shitreantals.org include a Brisbane property advertised as having airconditioning throughout but “they were broken” with black mould behind one of the systems, pest infestations that went ignored, a Gold Coast property with tornado damage with “no repairs done eight months later” and gripes about listing photos that did not meet reality.
“This house needs to be condemned,” said one tenant who left a review for a Morayfield rental.
Originally published as Grim reality in the hunt for a rental in Qld