Rental listing for $400 ‘caravan set up’ condemned as profiteering during housing crisis

A landlord’s efforts to rent out two caravans on their regional block has been slammed as an attempt to profit off Australia’s housing crisis.

A rental listing shared online has been slammed as an attempt to profit off Australia’s rental crisis, with the offering mocked as a $400 ”shanty town”.

The advertisement, located in Mullumbimby a town in New South Wales’ Byron Shire, offered a “caravan set up” with an outdoor covered kitchen and lounge.

Shared on Facebook, the listing says the landlords are looking for “new” tenants, and would suit singles, couples or friends that are “nice and nature lovers”.

Attached photos show two caravans under a structure, with a tarp covering kitchen cabinets, a sink, oven and two couches.

The Mullumbimby advertisement was slammed as an attempt to profit off the rental crisis. Picture: Facebook.

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The listing, which has since been removed, told prospective tenants rent was $400 per week, did not include bills and stated no pets were allowed.

It was slammed as a “shanty structure” by TikTok user Rachel McQueen in a video which has racked up almost 50,000 views.

McQueen, who regularly shares videos exposing dodgy rental listings, said the caravans didn’t appear fit for human habitation.

“I just want to know where they got the $400 a week not including bills figure from. Because, b---h you can get like a f--king little apartment in a city for $400,” she said.

“This is a shanty town. Wake up to yourself, this is greed and profiteering at its f--king best.”

The listing included an “outdoor kitchen and lounge”. Picture: Facebook.

Other renters shared their frustration and disbelief.

“Is this even legal?” one person said.

“Such a joke,” another raged.

Another joked; “My kids built a shack in the back yard out of branches, what do you think I can get for it? $250? $300? It has a hole in the ground”.

The national average weekly rent cost is now $583 a week as Australian capital cities record their strongest ever annual rent increases, amid a rapidly worsening housing crisis.

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals rents have increased across all inner-city and regional areas in Australia.

In February 2023, over 60 per cent of properties rented across Australia had rent increase by more than 10 per cent when compared to a year earlier.