Tenants hire rental ‘stand-ins’ to find home in competitive market

Desperate renters are choosing to spend hundreds on hiring stand-ins to view properties for them while at work or seeing other homes to be competitive in the market.

Natalie Padjan, with her dog Muffin, has made more than $3000 inspecting properties on behalf of prospective tenants. Picture: Jane Dempster

Desperate renters are spending hundreds of dollars on hiring stand-ins to view properties for them while at work or seeing other homes to make sure they are not missing out.

Online job marketplace Airtasker has recorded a 20 per cent jump in the number of people paying for help inspecting rental properties to increase their chances of securing a property. The ­average price is between $40 and $200 depending on how many ­inspections are carried out.

It comes as SQM Research data shows an easing of tight conditions in three smaller capital ­cities and some regional areas in February, with the national residential vacancy rates holding steady at 1 per cent.

Part-time property manager and caterer Natalie Padjan estimates she has made $3000 in ­recent months carrying out more than 50 inspections in Sydney’s northwest for others. The 36-year-old and her partner moved in with her parents after being hit with a big rental increase and are now building their first home.

“This is great for me because this is what I’m doing for work,” Ms Padjan said.

“I think people are stressing out about not being able to get a rental. Some of the queues are just insane. You’re competing with, say, 50 people or even more ­depending on the area.”

Ms Padjan is often tasked to take a video of the property and provide feedback.

“It happens multiple times a week,” she said. “There are some houses that are really rundown, don’t smell great, just not nice properties.”

Airtasker chief executive Tim Fung said the platform was “an open marketplace, which means customers can really ask for any job they need done”.

“We would have never even thought of this rental inspection idea and yet it can come to life ­because we’ve created a space for others to make it come true,” he said.

Louis Christopher, SQM Research managing director.

SQM figures suggest there is “hard evidence that the rental crisis is now easing” in Canberra, Darwin and Hobart, which ­recorded rises in vacancy rates to 1.8 per cent, 1.4 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively. The change represents a 0.2 per cent easing month-on-month.

The data firm’s managing ­director, Louis Christopher, said he was surprised vacancy rates didn’t tighten further last month.

“It isn’t just February we have recorded rises in these cities; they are also up compared to this time in 2022,” Mr Christopher said.

The Blue Mountains (1.9 per cent), Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula (1.4 per cent) and Queensland’s Gold Coast (1 per cent) also recorded sharp rises last month. While there has been some easing, vacancy levels are still well down on “healthy” levels of about 3 per cent.

Airtasker CEO Tim Fung. Picture: Ryan Osland

Rental market vacancy ­remained unchanged in Sydney (1.3 per cent), Brisbane (0.8 per cent), Adelaide (0.5 per cent) and Perth (0.4 per cent). Only Melbourne recorded a slight fall, to 1.1 per cent.

Mr Christopher believes there is light at the end of the tunnel for some parts of the country. “However, we still remain very concerned for the situation in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane,” he said.