Outrage over derelict Melbourne home costing $800 a week to rent

Melbourne renters are angry after being asked to fork out $800 a week on a house that is literally falling apart.

Renters are outraged after being asked to fork out $800 a week on a house that is literally falling apart.

The expensive rental can boast a ripped up kitchen, a backyard with graffiti on it and dirty walls as well as an exposed light bulb dangling precariously from the stairwell.

Although the five-bedroom derelict home is within Melbourne’s inner city limits, people took to social media to express how it’s location still couldn’t justify the cost.

The two-storey place on Alexandra Parade, Fitzroy, was compared to a “crime scene” by online commentators and some said there were signs of asbestos and mould there.

It received a social media battering after prominent TikToker Jordan van den Berg shared a scathing review of the rental listing to his 33,000 followers.

“Do you hate yourself? Because if you do, you’ve come to the right place,” he said of the place.

The owner is trying to get $800 a week from the place.

The curtains were described as being like “mops”.

Next Level Asset Management real estate agents described the house as perfect for an “inner city lifestyle”.

“Short stroll to the culinary delights of Brunswick Street cafes and restaurants, tram on nearby Nicholson Street and easy access to the M3 Eastern Freeway,” the description reads.

“Walk to Fitzroy swimming pool, Smith reserve and local restaurants.”

However, Jordan disagreed with the place’s appeal on TikTok.

“This is a five-bedroom house and there‘s only one picture of a bedroom and I’m pretty sure it’s not even in this house,” he said in his video rant, referring to the only photo of a fully-furnished room.

A kitchen with fixtures ripped off the wall.

Jordan questioned whether this bedroom was even part of the house because it seemed at odds with the rest of the home.

For the empty bedroom, he made another concerning observation.

“I’m not sure whether that is carpet or floor paper,” he said.

“I hope it’s floor paper because if it’s carpet that means it’s f***ing mould. But if it’s floor paper it’s just old.”

He wasn’t any more positive about the kitchen.

“If you like mop curtains this place has got your name on it,” the social media user said.

“For $800 a week, you‘re clearly going to get a f***ing state of the art kitchen.”

This potentially shows mould on the ground.

The naked bulb and the scuffed floors in the hallway were also criticised.

On the whole, he gave the dilapidated rental home a big thumbs down.

“I think if I invited my mum to an afternoon tea here in my backyard without any warning, she would have me involuntarily admitted to a mental hospital,” Jordan said.

He also criticised the backyard, which appears to have windows or doors cemented over.

“It’s quite clear that this was once a door but the landlord was like, ‘You know what it’s best we don’t open this little can of worms’,” he said.

“On the bright side, no more murders can happen here unless you climb through the window.”

His followers shared his sentiment.

Some said it looked like a “$800 crime scene” and that the shed looked riddled with asbestos as a “bonus”.

“How is this legal? It looks like it should have been demolished last week,” added another.

Although $800 a week does seem steep for a place like this, the latest data shows rent in Australia is reaching new heights with renters barely able to keep up.

Graffiti in the backyard.

Social media users said it looked like the doors had been cemented over.

The cost of renting a home in Australia surged over the past 12 months despite Covid-19 price hike moratoriums, creating an “unsustainable” situation while incomes languish.

Nationally, rental rates jumped 6.6 per cent over the year to June – the highest annual growth since January 2009, CoreLogic data shows.

As seen in the housing sales market, the regions have outperformed cities, with annual rental growth climbing 11.3 per cent – the highest annual growth on record since CoreLogic began its rental index in 2005.

For the combined capital cities, the rise was 5 per cent.

New data from realestate.com.au shows the average weekly rent of a place in Greater Melbourne was $450.