Ceiling collapses on sleeping woman in rental nightmare

A woman has had a terrifying ordeal after being crushed by a roof - summing up the horrendous situation faced by renters.

A woman has had a terrifying ordeal after being crushed by a collapsed roof while she was asleep - summing up the horrendous situation faced by renters in Australia’s housing crisis.

New Zealander Melissa Ware, 49, was visiting her sister’s home at Hollywell, on the Gold Goast in Queensland, in October, when the ceiling collapsed about 2am.

She said she woke to a loud bang and the sensation of a weight pinning her to the bed.

“I was fast asleep when all of a sudden there was a loud bang and I felt an enormous weight on top of me,” she told The Courier Mail. “It was pitch black, so I had no idea what was happening and panicked.”

“I couldn’t see anything either until my sister and her husband opened the dooor to try and find out what the noise was, and a bit of light came into the room....they were shocked to find me laying under everything pleading for help.”

Melissa Ware sustained multiple injuries after a ceiling collapsed. Picture: Supplied to The Courier Mail

The collapsed ceiling at Hollywell, Queensland. Picture: Supplied to The Courier Mail

Ms Ware’s sister, who did not want to be named, said she was furious because she had raised concerns about the ceiling cracking and sagging in the bedroom with their rental property manager about eight months earlier.

She said a maintenace worker had provided a repair quote after part of the ceiling had collapsed in another bedroom and narrowly missed an elderly relative.

“I kept contacting Ray White and asking them what was happening with it, but they kept saying they were waiting for a response form the landlord,” said Ms Ware’s sister.

“I was calling and emailing them for months, includiong just before my sister came to stay wtih us, but no one fixed anyting. And this was after us raising the issue with them at every inspection we had over the three or four years we lived there.”

Ray White Runaway Bay principal Ali Mian said he was deeply sorry to hear Ms Ware had been hurt.

“We discovered the issues with the ceiling during a routine inspection by the property manager,” he said.

“We advised the landlord of the maintenance issue and had been waiting for instructions from the owner to engage a tradesperson.

Melissa Ware says she was in a state of shock after the ceiling collapsed on her. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“We are sorry that someone’s been hurt in this accident. The owner is now undertaking a full repair and renovation of their property’s spare room.”

Rental vacancies are at near-record lows across the country, and combined with skyrocketing house prices, families are being literally left out in the cold.