Insane cost of a ‘share house’ bed shows the dire state of Australia’s rental market

A small bed in a room with 99 other people is a stark illustration of just how broken the housing market is. Here’s why it’s about to get worse.

A ‘share house’ listing for a single bed in a tiny pod in a hostel room accommodating 100 people, advertised for a whopping $350 per week sparked fury online this week.

But similarly unpleasant living situations could become an everyday sighting as Austrlaia’s rental crisis worsens.

The cost of renting a home continues to rise, with the latest CoreLogic Quarterly Rental Review to September showing prices in Sydney are up 10.6 per cent year-on-year, while they’re 12 per cent higher in Melbourne and up 8.1 per cent in Brisbane.

The median dwelling rent in Sydney is now $720 per week, while it’s $553 per week in Melbourne and $614 per week in Brisbane.

Rental prices at a national level have now risen each moth for the past 38 consecutive months, CoreLogic economist Katylin Ezzy said.

Prices are 30 per cent higher than they were in mid-2020 and the rental vacancy rate – that is the proportion of all leased dwellings currently available – has collapsed to a new low of 1.1 per cent across the capital cities.

A pod in this Gold Coast hostel is listed for $350 per week.

The offending advertisement on popular website flatmates.com.au is a sign of the worsening rental crisis, with desperate Australians facing limited choice and sky high prices.

TikTok user Keira Ashley shared the listing this week, saying: “This should be f***ing illegal.”

It’s described as being a six-bedroom, four-bathroom property accommodating a total of seven people, when in reality the pod is one of 100 in one dormitory room.

A pod in this Gold Coast hostel is listed for $350 per week.

“Record high net overseas migration, fuelled by a combination of an increased flow of new arrivals and weaker departure numbers, coupled with a continued shortfall in rental listings, saw the vacancy rates falling to new record lows,” Ms Ezzy said.

Share houses that aren’t homes

In her TikTok video, Ms Ashley said she was upset about the listing because “this is a website for permanent rentals, not booking for hotel for a holiday”.

Making a pod at Tequila Sunrise a permanent home could come will require some sacrifices.

A review on the travel website Hostel World shared this week described a stay at Tequila Sunrise as a “bad experience”. The visitor said they paid for a “deluxe pod in a 12-bed dorm” that didn’t exist, instead arriving to find the 100-pod dormitory.

“Deluxe pods are actually opposite the toilets so it’s super noisy,” they wrote.

The Tequila Sunrise hostel has a dormitory containing 100 of these sleep pods.

Another warned visitors to “bring earplugs” and described their stay as “intense”, adding that “[you] probably couldn’t pay me to do it again”.

Someone who stayed in June said it was “awkward having 100 beds in one room” while another who visited last November revealed “it smelt so bad I checked into a hotel instead”.

In the comments on the TikTok video, one man claimed he stayed at the hostel in April 2021 and paid $100 for a full week in a pod.

Tequila Sunrise was approached for comment for this story.

Crammed conditions are common

The Tequila Sunrise listing isn’t the only one offering a pricey and crowded living experience, with news.com.au finding multiple examples of hostel accommodation being advertised as share housing.

A “hi-tech” capsule with a single bed in it, also on the Gold Coast, is one of several in a small room and comes at a cost of $290 per week, with a minimum two-month stay required.

This capsule hostel is also listed as a share house.

“This gives you the privacy of your own room, a thriving community to be part of and clean, superior facilities to complete your home,” the listing reads.

There are also multiple listings across the country’s major capitals for bunk beds in regular-sized bedrooms.

For example, in Darlinghurst in Sydney’s inner-east, someone looking for a home can snap up a mattress in a bunk bed, in a bedroom occupied by five other people, for $250 per week.

This Darlinghurst rental has six beds in one room.

Nearby in neighbouring Potts Point, a single bunk in a room with four beds is on offer for $250 per week.

It’s not just bunk bed homes offering a less-than-ideal living situation, with a listing for a room in an Adelaide apartment raising eyebrows.

A user on Reddit shared a listing for a share house in Brompton, with an ensuited bedroom offered for $200 per week.

But the catch is whoever moves in must leave on the weekends.

“Once I’m home on the weekends, I don’t want any housemates around,” the man listing the room writes. “So, it’s suitable for someone spends the weekends elsewhere like with their partner, parents place etc and would like to enjoy their privacy on the weekdays.”

A Potts Point share house has four beds in one room.

Among the many comments were tales of “over the top requests” in rental listings, with one recounting a house that banned the use of the kitchen for cooking meals.

“So, you‘re paying for a place with a kitchen, but you’re expected to get takeout for every meal or live off cereal and sandwiches,” the user wrote.

“Another one forbade renters from having a boyfriend/girlfriend stay overnight. Although they would consider short day time visits OK.”

A spokesperson for flatmates.com.au said: “Flatmates.com.au is a peer-to-peer listing site that allows people to offer and find shared short- and long-term accommodation.

“Members include students, professionals, backpackers and working holiday visa holders.

“Listers who rent out their properties on flatmates.com.au are equally diverse to match their needs and range from young homeowners, mum and dad investors, head lease holders, professional users, and on occasion, hostels.”

No relief in sight

For those Aussies struggling to find a rental, or grappling with ever-rising prices, PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said there is “no end in sight”.

“With demand running ahead of supply, conditions tightening significantly over the past year in Sydney and Melbourne, and vacancies remaining below 1% in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, there’s little hope of reprieve for renters,” Ms Creagh said.

“With household incomes and wages growth only slowly picking up, rising rents mean tenants are likely to be spending a growing share of their income on housing.”

Australia is in the grips of an unprecedented rental crisis. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

Analysis also shows there’s a “critical shortage” of affordable rentals across much of the country.

“Affordable rental homes were measured as rental properties listed on realestate.com.au where advertised weekly rents were less than or equal to 30% of the minimum wage, JobSeeker or basic pension for singles,” Ms Creagh explained.

In Sydney, the share of listings deemed affordable relative to wages is just 0.4 per cent, while in Melbourne it’s 0.6 per cent and in Brisbane it’s 0.9 per cent.

Originally published as Insane cost of a ‘share house’ bed shows the dire state of Australia’s rental market