Sydney renter devastated by $1400-a-month price hike at water-damaged home

Chantelle Schmidt, 32, has left many shocked after sharing a letter she received about the home she rents in Sydney.

A young Sydney woman has been left in turmoil after her rent was increased by $700 a fortnight.

Chantelle Schmidt, 32, received a letter last week informing her the rent for her Redfern sharehouse will jump from $1900 to $2600 a fortnight.

The letter explained the reason for the rent increase was “to bring rent in line with what the current market is achieving”.

The freelance writer is now stuck either trying to negotiate for a lower rent increase or look at moving out.

However, if she and her housemates choose to move they will be struck with another hurdle as rental supply is significantly low, with just 31,000 residential rental properties available across the entire country.

Chantelle Schmidt's rent went up by $700 a fortnight and asked TikTok if the property was worth the price hike. Picture: TikTok/@chantellecschmidt

Ms Schmidt said moving out is not an easy option with rental vacancies at record lows. Picture: Instagram/@chantelleschmidt

“Everyone was saying move out, but you can’t,” she told the Today show on Wednesday.

After receiving the email from her landlord this week notifying her of the upcoming rental increase, the journalist and podcast host shared a video to her TikTok account asking a burning question.

“Do you think it’s worth it?” she asked.

The video proceeds to show a series of maintenance repairs and concerns that Ms Schmidt has with her rental property.

“Water damage, oh fun some mould, a loose floorboard,” she lists off, while pulling the floorboard loose from the floor.

“The walls are cooked,” she says showing more water damage running up a wall.

People responded in the comments section with many sharing her shock at the price hike.

“Omg no its not worth it! Housing in Australia is out of control. This isn’t fair. Your landlord should be ashamed of themselves,” one person said.

“Move immediately,” another said.

“Even if the place was perfect, that’s an insane rent increase,” another wrote.

“You pay $1900 a fortnight for that. I was expecting a mansion,” a third said.

A floorboard can be lifted from the floor. Picture: TikTok/@chantellecschmidt

Water damage on the properties ceiling with a crack running down the wall. Picture: TikTok/@chantellecschmidt

The rent hike comes as Sydneysiders struggle to secure a home.

Many videos have been shared on social media showing lines wrapping around city blocks every weekend as dozens of renters fight over the short supply of rental properties.

It comes as renters right across Sydney are experiencing major rent hikes due to rising interest rates putting pressure on homeowners.

Capital city asking rents are continuing to rise across the country, with a 24.7 per cent increase over the past 12 months, and a 17.4 per cent rise in regional areas, according to new data from SQM Research.

Real Estate Institute of NSW Vice-President Leanne Pilkington said she understands why people are calling for a cap on rental prices in Australia.

“A 37 per cent increase is outrageous,” she told Today.

She said rents have gone up across the entire country by an average of about 10 per cent but over the course of the last two decades by about 40 per cent.

“I understand why people are calling for caps, but the problem is if investors can‘t afford their mortgage, then they will sell and then there will be even also supply,” she said.