Cockroach-infested housing commission home listed on Airbnb

A WOMAN living in a cockroach-infested housing commission property has been caught pocketing $100 a night after listing it on Airbnb.

FINDING a cheap place to stay during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games was like trying to find a needle in a haystack — a predicament one cheeky housing commission tenant thought she’d pounce on.

The woman was caught renting out her Mudgeeraba government-owned property on Airbnb for $100 a night after someone who stayed there left a scathing review on the site.

Obtained by the Gold Coast Bulletin, the review said the place needed “fumigation and then demolition”.

“This is a dilapidated cockroach and grease-laden, ramshackle home that fair enough someone may want to live in, but in truth how it can be placed out for let is unfathomable.

“The smell from the fridge alone nearly killed us. We bought our own sheets and used them such was the state of the ones supplied — marked with god only knows what plus one of the beds was a blow-up one.

“The front door key didn’t work and the owner’s dog barked all night to the point where twice the angry neighbours came round. This place needs fumigating and then demolition. It is not fit for letting out.”

The woman listed the home for $100 a night. Picture: Mike Batterham

The Mudgeeraba home. Picture: Mike Batterham

The vicious review came to light yesterday when Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates circulated it in parliament.

Ms Bates told Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk that the woman, who has lived in the property for 20 years, had rented it out while she went for a camping holiday in NSW.

The Liberal National Party accused the state government of ignoring the issue, but the government said the tenant complied with orders to take the listing down.

Renting out public housing is strictly prohibited and Ms Bates said the woman should understand that having the property was a privilege.

“The system is there to ensure our most disadvantaged Queenslanders have a roof over their heads, not to make cash on the side.

“I’ve doorknocked this neighbourhood before and I know the neighbours are rightfully appalled by this,” Ms Bates said.

LNP leader Deb Frecklington stopped short of calling for the tenant’s eviction, instead urging the government to adopt her party’s three strikes policy.

— With wires