‘Completely unfair’: Sydney couple hit with $150 rent rise overnight

The Sydney rental market has been labelled a “free-for-all” after a young couple were priced out of their home of two years by an astronomical rent rise.

A young couple have been priced out of their suburban Sydney home of two years by an astronomical rise in their weekly rent.

A young Northmead man, who wished to remain anonymous, said a recent Notice of Rent Increase he received on Monday, September 12, upped his rent from $460 to $610 per week.

The document seen by news.com.au shows the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house has increased $150 per week, payable from mid-December.

He said the financial pressure from the agent started before he moved into the home with his fiance in November 2020.

“The listed price was $450 a week when we inspected. There were tenants living there at the time so it’s not as though it had been empty for an extended period of time and they had dropped the rent looking to attract new tenants,” he said.

“They had told us that someone else was always looking and wondered if we would offer more to secure the lease, I told them the most we could afford was another $10 per week, pushing it to $460. They accepted and we moved in shortly after.”

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A Sydney couple is fuming after being hit with a $150 per week rent rise. Picture: Supplied

The couple were emailed the mammoth rent rise for their home of almost two years, even after repairs needed from storms damaged early this year were never seen to.

The tenant said he and his partner had initially moved to Sydney’s west in hopes of saving for their wedding and eventually a house of their own.

However, the massive hike has all but crushed those dreams for now.

“We had originally lived in Lane Cove but decided to move further west in the hopes of increasing the amount we could save every week for a house deposit,” he said.

“We definitely cannot afford an extra $150 per week as we are getting married in 12 months and are trying to save for a house of our own, which almost seems unattainable as it is.

“We will unfortunately have no choice but to move house after only being here less than two years.”

And while New South Wales’ slim vacancy rate, interest rates and inflation has driven up prices in recent months, median rent for Northmead ranges between $400 and $550 for similar houses – far shy of what is being asked.

The couple described the rent hike as “completely unfair” as they prepare to appeal the rise.

“We do intend to have the matter reviewed through the appropriate channels,” the tenant said.

Negotiating in a housing ‘free-for-all’

Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the Tenants’ Union of NSW, said while it might be a step too far to attribute this to pure greed, such a rise should not happen.

He said a tribunal may consider market rents and adjust the price down, but it may not make it there to begin with.

“Some agents and landlords just avoid going to the tribunal, because if it was tested under the law, it might not stand up,” he told news.com.au.

“But if they’re getting a new person who’s desperate for a home, that new person can’t fight it, they can’t dispute the rent set at a new rent.”

Mr Patterson Ross said unlike most other essential services, the housing market remained a largely unregulated “free-for-all”.

“This is one person trying to run an investment, and the other person is trying to find a home,” he explained.

“So the incentives on either side are quite different – in every other essential service we put in place a framework around that relationship. We haven’t done that in housing.

“Until we set down rules, then obviously, investors are going to try and make as much money as they can.”

Leo Patterson Ross from the NSW Tenants' Union says landlords will try their luck with rent increases.

The Northmead couple are not the only ones seeing increases.

“We’ve actually had a few calls from people in sort of similar areas like middle rings (of Sydney), who have been asked to pay really large increases, that the data doesn’t support,” Mr Patterson Ross said.

“Because people risk of eviction, even if they don’t accept the rent increase, sometimes they end up paying it.”

And if renters take the bait and do not dispute the price hikes, it could have real impacts on the market.

“The way the system works, effectively, that makes it a market rent,” Mr Patterson Ross said.

“What the rent increases testing is how worried people are at the risk of homelessness, if they do move.

“Sometimes people accept something that isn’t really supported by the data and then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

The Union recommends using its Rent Increase Negotiation Kit, designed for renters to make sure they are not paying too much by arming them with legal advice and market insights to dispute rent rises.

As for the Northmead couple, they said after house hunting over the weekend, they found “much better” and “a lot cheaper” homes nearby.

And perhaps the landlords need not worry either, the house bought for $815,000 in 2019 now has an estimated value between $1.15 million and $1.55 million.