Sad reason British expat warns 'do not move to Australia'
However, a local told her she was naive for "moving to a new country without doing enough research."
In a TikTok video that's now gone viral, a British expat has shared a warning about moving to Sydney amid the deepening rental crisis.
In the footage, Ellie, a solo British traveller, documents the reality of trying to find a place to live in Australia's largest city.
The clip shows hundreds of prospective tenants lined up to view two-bedroom apartments in Sydney's East, with queues often flowing onto the street.
"I moved from London to Sydney with no idea of the rental crisis," she admits, before telling others not to make the same mistake.
"Do NOT move to Sydney..." she says, adding the caveat: "if you think it’s going to be easy."
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"Mass rejection, queues, and a rental crisis"
"Let me show you what you're in for," she begins her clip, where she vlogs her morning inspection hopping.
While viewing apartments in Bondi and neighbouring suburbs, she says she was taken aback by the "crazy competition."
"[We viewed] a flat that about 70-100 people showed up to," she says.
"There was a queue to get in and then you literally couldn't see it, there were so many people in there."
At one property, she said the queue went down "two flights of stairs and out to the street."
In the caption, she described the experience as, "mass rejection, queues, and a rental crisis."
"Moving to Sydney is not all sunshine and rainbows…" she concluded.
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"Try further out from the city"
Thousands of commenters echoed Ellie's frustrations and offered suggestions. "You need to go out of Central Sydney. Like Chatswood, Parramatta, Cronulla, or Hornsby. It’s a lot easier!" one user advised.
Another user agreed, saying, "Try further out from the city."
"Woah! I had no idea this was the state of rentals in Sydney," a third shared.
And a fellow Brit reassured her, "I promise you'll find somewhere soon," before saying that they had to "settle quite far west".
However, plenty of people also thought Ellie was naive to move to another country without understanding the local rental situation.
"How are you moving countries without doing that kind of research?" one person asked.
Another wrote, "New title: Do not move to a new country without doing some research."
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Originally published as Sad reason British expat warns 'do not move to Australia'
