Melbourne tenant slams ‘illegal’ wall blocking only window

Oscar Gordon says he is now "paying full rent to wake up in complete darkness" after a brick wall was built against his window.

Oscar Gordon loved living in his Melbourne sharehouse — until a next-door building project left him living in a “glorified cupboard”.

Mr Gordon moved into the terrace on Barkly Avenue, Richmond with two mates on August 9 this year, renting through agents Hocking Stuart Richmond.

Initially, everything went smoothly — but that all changed two months later when Mr Gordon walked past his bedroom on day to see “half a brick wall” covering his window thanks to a new house being built right next door.

• Australia’s billion-dollar rort

• City making homeowners rich

• ‘Risky move’ a million-dollar business

When the wall was completed, Mr Gordon’s only bedroom window was completely bricked up, leaving the room in total darkness.

For the last four weeks, Mr Gordon says he has been caught up in a frustrating back-and-forth with rental agent Hocking Stuart Richmond as he attempted to find a solution to the problem.

Oscar Gordon says he is "paying full rent to wake up in complete darkness every morning" after this wall went up. Facebook

He told news.com.au the problem was “illegal” as well as annoying, as his room now breached the Building Code of Australia’s (BCA) definition of a “habitable room”, which states a room must have a certain minimum ratio of natural light and ventilation.

“Every single morning I wake up and I don’t know what time it is — it’s like living in a prison cell,” he said.

Celebrities including Fifi Box have slammed the situation. Picture: Supplied

“There is zero ventilation. I’m living in a glorified cupboard. It feels like I’m living underground.

“It’s terrible; I have no sunlight. So out of frustration I posted about it on social media, because that’s the only voice people have these days.”

Mr Gordon said the landlord had approved a 400mm by 400mm skylight to be installed in the bedroom as a solution — but that he was not happy with that outcome.

He said the landlords purchased the property around two years ago and would have signed “section 32” at the time, which discloses any modifications which have occurred on the property.

Mr Gordon, a friend of Sophie Monk, says his window is now "illegal". Picture: Supplied

However, he said it was possible they did not realise the “illegal” window was not BCA compliant — and that one of his biggest complaints was the amount of time it had taken for his agent to take the problem seriously.

Mr Gordon, a former Executive Digital Content Producer at KIIS 1065 and friend of Aussie celebrities including Sophie Monk, Fifi Box and Jackie O, posted a video of his bedroom “window” on Facebook and Instagram.

In the accompanying caption, he wrote: “4 weeks since this wall went up over the only window in my bedroom! Still no action from the landlords as facilitated by hockingstuart Richmond! Paying full rent to wake up in complete darkness every morning #illegalwindow #lettherebelight #firehazard”

He received an outpouring of support from friends and social media followers including Ms Box, who described the situation as “outrageous”, and Ms Monk, who quipped “Orange is the New Black has a better view”.

In a statement provided to news.com.au, a Hocking Stuart Richmond spokeswoman said the company was “working closely” with the affected tenant to reach an “agreeable solution”.

“As the neighbouring property is of a separate ownership, we unfortunately had no prior knowledge on what the council authority has permitted and approved to build on this block,” the statement reads.

Oscar Gordon says the brick wall went up virtually overnight. Picture: Supplied

“Of course, the satisfaction of our tenants is our utmost priority and we are currently working with the landlord to facilitate the installation of a skylight to the space.

“While this is being finalised, our team is doing everything we can to support the tenant during this time, and are liaising with the tenant, landlord and council ongoing.”

Continue the conversation @carey_alexis | [e-mail]