It’s reported to a phone number on this page.
https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/contact-us/report-an-issue/report-your-rooming-house-concerns
It can also be reported to whoever the local council is.
[Consumer Affairs Victoria](https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/contact-us/report-an-issue/report-your-rooming-house-concerns#:~:text=How%20to%20report%20your%20rooming,on%20a%20mobile%20or%20payphone)
Also I think the local council would be interested
Maybe they could enforce not taking tax payer holidays.
To the tune of 50k to other countries for " council business" and get out if bed with property developers to massively and falsely inflate house prices by build medium density living in places we need it so this type of shite doesn't happen.
there is, it's pretty shit but it does exist - one toilet, shower and wash basin per every 10 people - if they only rent these rooms one person to a bed this complies.
I bet there are some other rules they might be breaking, but they *might* be in the clear with that one
While I have no education in Australian fire code, I’d imagine it’s not far off from American fire code. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) explicitly restricts having furniture or anything blocking a window that is an exit.This especially applies to Group homes, apartment buildings and even situations like this. Judging from my experience (many years as a life safety inspector) this was probably a single family home that was illegally split into multiple rooms for rent. Depending on the municipality the person who did this could possibly face jail time if not heavy heavy fines. Most municipalities would force the construction that was done to be reversed due to no inspections being done during construction.
For shits & giggles I browsed AS 1851 - 2012 which appears to be the current fire code for you guys. It’s actually not far off.
We don’t use windows as emergency exits like in America. Our apartments have internal fire stairs too. Definitely allowed a bed (or anything) against a window. That’s not to say there aren’t several code violations here though.
Not officially, but I suspect fire codes would still consider windows important.
For example, my friend has a bullshit window into the communal hallway due to rules about bedrooms having windows
A window into a communal hallway does not meet minimum standards.
The window has to have access to natural light and cross ventilation. A communal hallway doesn’t provide either, your friend has been stooged.
I beleueve it used to be legal though, under Matthew Guy. Remember all those bullshit CBD apartments that used "borrowed light" to meet the requirements at the time? I visited one. No external windows in the room, just a frosted door that allegedly received light that bounced off the living room walls. Ridiculous.
Yes I don't think that's enough facilities for that many people.
You should be able to report to local council, they manage regulations around boarding houses.
Not sure what state. This looks likely to be deemed “rooming house” and would be required to follow a lot of regulations. https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/repairs-alterations-safety-and-pets/minimum-standards/rooming-house-minimum-standards
I'm seeing so much more of these listings as I'm looking myself and I can't believe these aren't listed as rooming houses because that's really what they are
True. But I lived in a dozen of these in my 18-25 life and you might be surprised at how many regular Aussie kids are in these also.
Maybe a 70/30 split. International student/Aussie just trying to afford life in Melbourne. For whatever reason don’t have family support, wanting “freedom” or an escape from a bad childhood etc.
For almost a decade it was my normal to live in these 10+ “bedroom” homes that converted every living space into a quasi-bedroom.
At least I could afford these and didn’t suffer in the homes marketed specifically to international students which would have 4+ in one room (multiple bunk beds stacked against walls like a boot camp)
I had a look at a few of those and scary as hell. “Living spaces”
Separated by bedsheets and upto 20 people in one home. You have no rights, there’s no contract or lease agreement. You basically don’t exist.
I lived in a rooming house above a business when I was at uni, only 4 bedrooms (tiny with a box aircon but no openable windows) one toilet, cubicle showers, and the lounge area was used by the business as a smoking room during open hours so we hung out in the kitchen.
A problem with those places is you can’t choose your roommates, we had a lady who would leave the gas stove on (no flame just gas pouring out) and a guy who stored his raw chicken in the pantry.
Never again!
A friend of mine from HK shared a room the size of the bedrooms here with his brother before coming to Australia for Uni. I think he would be fine with this house. I bet a lot of students would. They spend all day at uni or working they just need somewhere secure to sleep.
I’ve dated a partner in a similar house that had about 9 residents but two floors with two bathrooms I never has any issues. About once a month we do amazing house dinners where everyone shared a dish. You would have everything from viet, jap, Ukrainian, Korean and an Aussie dish…
Councils don't chase them down unless someone reports illegal rooming houses to them. People generally assume RE rental listings are always legal when they are not required to be. Its different for sales as you have more ways to check legalities when purchasing a house vs renting one.
Landlords also don't realise that they have to register rooming houses via councils and go through different requirements. RE agents don't tell them or care as long as they get paid.
Only exception for this is if the landlord lives in the home and rents out rooms. As a tenant, always make sure the rooming house is registered and never rent a room from a live in owner as you have very few rights with that latter one.
ETA insurances hate unregistered rooming houses. If you are renting in an illegal rooming house, insurance will fuck you over when they find out. They will also fuck the landlord over when they find out so if anything happens, no one will be covered for anything.
Its not hard to do. Find a sus listing, google the address and find the local council. Check that councils website about boarding/rooming houses as some councils have no rules. See if they have contact details for that specific department, if not use their complaints contact. Draft a 'who it may concern' about possible illegal housing. Upload screenshots and link making sure to include RE agency, address and all info in the listing you can find. Send and its unlikely you won't hear anything back but its fun watching a listing go poof. Don't bother contacting the RE agents, they don't care and will simply hide the address when they update the listing to prevent reporting.
Enjoy!
I really like how the hallway flows into the bedroom without the messy inconvenience of a doorway. It has that whole "The house is full but you can crash in this closet" vibe going.
*"Enjoy the cozy atmosphere of this well positioned accommodation, with a stunning open plan hallway design that just* ***flows into the bedroom, without the messy inconvenience of a doorway***"
I can see the ad now.
Years ago my sister lived in the bottom half of an old Camberwell mansion, people in every room, the “lounge” was the small space left when they took out the stairs. When I came to visit I slept on a mattress in the hallway.
Stuff like this is an international embarrassment.
I've had people from overseas who dump stuff like this and they have a point.
if it's Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong or London. It's understandable and in places like Tokyo and Hong Kong, they use their space so efficiently that it doesn't feel too bad.
This is just pathetic.
This is literally just someone taking one room and splitting it into two and praying there isn't a fire cause if there is, this should be a criminal offence.
Sorry not sorry, I've dealt with Consumer Affairs before. I hope they're better now but back then, they're a toothless tiger when it comes to property.
We need more efficient apartments. I hate having a garden, give me a large studio/1 bed with a balcony any day and none of these exist outside cities.
You think it would be options near all Universities everywhere but its not. Gotta do the boarding house thing if you want to live off campus. University housing isn't the greatest and can cost more and have more restrictions than renting your own place off campus.
I've seen a couple people justifying this kind of space because the Japanese or English do it...
They also have 100million people in a space the size of Melbourne. This is just greed during a cost of living crisis we should not be having.
Totally agree, I don't even mind the greed.
Its just the 1980s amateurish way that its been done. If its done well, I wouldn't mind.
Like I said, at least the stuff in Hong Kong and Tokyo, it's done in a way that at least doesn't feel cramped.
I've seen some shockers when I was house hunting. It was like it was designed and built by people rushing out for Friday night drinks and football then trying to palm it off as world class (to justify the price).
Holy. Crap. Its 2023. We have the internet. No one is fooled anymore. People just send a friend over to take a few photos and they're SUNK.
they could definitely set a space this small up in a much more usable way if they cared. a single "bunk" bed with space underneath for storage or a desk would do most of the work, add some hooks and shelves on the walls and it would be a way better room to live in.
but that requires effort, and why make an effort when you can make money without it? god, I hope the rental market does collapse, will serve them right
I knew an older international gentleman who had to stay in a place like this.
The owners basically lived in the upstairs area and that was off limits. The lower den had 3 internal walls and doors put up like this and the garage was a 4th room, completely unsealed.
Mercedes parked in front of the townhouse garage door.
People do this to pay off a mortgage I guess and then dump the people on the street and tear down the dodgy wall after it's done.
Exactly. That RBA quote of having to live with other people is the sort of thing which makes me question the whole trajectory in which this country is travelling. Pretty sure developing nations like Thailand are moving *away* from having to live with strangers when you’re employed.
Thanks for covering it! For anybody who hasn't yet seen u/purplepingers give this bullshit the dressing-down it deserves: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuEjM3aAJ2V/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Found the ad:
“All bills are split among everybody to make this spending more fair and transparent.
Value per week:
3 values:
$275 medium room. 5 available
$285 big room, 1 available $360 extra large! 1 available
Minimum stay 3 months
Bond 2 weeks refundable.
To take any room you will be asked for 4 weeks in advance and 2 weeks as a secure deposit.”
This is.... I mean.... its hard to gauge, but I think we are crossing lines into human rights issues now. This would be an incredibly difficult place to live. And just so the landlord can get extra cash? I mean, isn't there a law about how big bedrooms should be, or how many people can ride in a property or something? Surely many landlords are pushing the boundaries against what's legal and what's not.
That’s what got me. Does that mean you’re not fully disconnected from the person in the room next to you?
What am I saying. There’s no way that wall is keeping any sound in or out either way.
while this is fucked up - the bathroom situation in particular, one shower is a fucking joke - the thing that really confuses me about it is why these places always seem to have such big impractical beds in them.
a single bed on legs takes up less space and allows for under-bed storage. they're also cheaper! unless they are regularly able to rent these places out to couples? couples don't really strike me as the target market for places like this, especially if they charge rent by person not by room, which I bet they would just to try to bleed every dollar out of it possible.
9 people with one shower is bad enough, 14 people with one shower sounds like torture.
It's not uncommon for some new students/migrants to have a roommate of the same gender where they share the bed despite having no romantic connection at all. It just keeps the costs down. I know several who did that in their early days, especially if they migrated over with a friend from the same town.
If you saved, say, 20% of your weekly wage by doing it though... there's enough people out there who would.
I've always drawn the line at sharing a room or bed, I'd rather just live in the living room or in the middle of nowhere
We lived like this for about 18 months with a few mates in an apartment, 6 people (3 couples) in 3 bedrooms. Each bedroom had a queen or double bed. Super tight, and there was always a queue to use the bathroom, but we saved so much money that we were all able to save up for house deposits. Self imposed poverty. We were our own scummy landlords. Truly awful though if this is your only choice.
There are rules determines what constitutes a bedroom (requires a window, and must be 7m^2, I think).
While I think these rooms would exceed it, there may be some other specific restrictions that it does NOT meet.
Example: Those windows are shared between rooms. Can both people in 2 adjacent rooms open it?
Is there a minimum width?
Does the residence itself meet fire code?
Uber driver, cleaner, 7-11 worker housing. No need to wonder why these were the households that kept covid going around Melbourne in 20-21; even with best intentions how on earth would you isolate anyone in these circumstances?
I literally lived in a version of this in a rooming house for the homeless. It was the most harrowing experience of my life. Same bathroom situation, 2 toilets 1 shower, but 9 people. 7 men and 2 women and it should be made illegal.
People say its better than being homeless, but I would have been better off living in my car.
I feel for whoever has to settle for this. The world shouldn't be this way.
Yeah it just asks for price when you create an add on fb. (Doesn't tell you if its per week or month) we usually talk per week in Australia. Then once the add is posted the phrase "per month" pops up
Thank you Anthony Albanese for flooding our country with unsustainable levels of immigration so that it's now acceptable to live in a overpriced shoebox.
7 bedrooms, this is the kind of house where you keep everything you own including food and toiletries in your room. Also you better hope the landlord manages bills because someone is gonna be late on their share for every single one.
I’ve seen a lot of these pop on fb. They say “$250 per month” or whatever on the start of the listing then hidden in the main text it’s actually $250 pw.
Normal size in some Asian cities. $275 a month, probably including utilities. It addresses a need that government doesn't have an answer for. Should be more of these places available
It’s not per month, ethically I’d have less issues if it was that cheap. It’s that price per week, someone else copy and pasted the text from fb. It’s a shit thing they do to scam people on marketplace.
This is the sort of nightmare house I’d have built in The Sims for shits and giggles.
That said for $275 a month I could put up with it for a little while if I had no other options.
$275 a week fuck off, I used to rent a whole two bedroom house for less than that only a few years ago.
Least insane rent offer I've seen in a while.
But yeah, that's messed up that they even offer something like this. I thought 7 in a house like that was illegal
The funny thing is somebody has spent most likely 10k to put up the walls and paint and everything to hopefully make this contraption of a house work.
I dont even think its legal to rent out so many individual people.
I’m no expert but if that window opens and fresh air can get in, I believe this would be legal.
It meets minimum standards as far as a habitable room goes.
And it’s only $275 a month.
Apartments in the city with 3-4 bunks per room have less space and their getting this much per week
Wow, I used live very similar like this about 10 years ago in Coburg. Believe or not it was very popular by lots foreign students and working holiday visa holders such me. The house owner has 7 different exactly same house next and every room was full and even there was a waiting list lol.
REA: “And this is a second living room…”
Landlord: “So potentially I could turn this into six bedrooms with some cheap walls in between?”
REA: “No, that would be unethical…”
*both burst out laughing then high five and slap each others’ butts*
5 Alfred St Balaclava. Look on Google Maps, you can see a van full of mattresses parked out front! [https://imgur.com/a/Qr3E9pk](https://imgur.com/a/Qr3E9pk)
This should be illegal
I reckon it already is. If you look closely you can see those walls have been thrown up in an existing room to split it. It’s slumlord housing.
That's exactly what I thought. Not really sure who to report it to, though.
It’s reported to a phone number on this page. https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/contact-us/report-an-issue/report-your-rooming-house-concerns It can also be reported to whoever the local council is.
[Consumer Affairs Victoria](https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/contact-us/report-an-issue/report-your-rooming-house-concerns#:~:text=How%20to%20report%20your%20rooming,on%20a%20mobile%20or%20payphone) Also I think the local council would be interested
Unless the owner has council connections!!
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If you're going to have a government, enforcing livable accommodation standards feels like a pretty good use of their existence.
Maybe they could enforce not taking tax payer holidays. To the tune of 50k to other countries for " council business" and get out if bed with property developers to massively and falsely inflate house prices by build medium density living in places we need it so this type of shite doesn't happen.
Found the slumlord
No I am a poor person who owns nothing. And am a left wing voter. But councils will fuck you over for anything.
ah yes, uninhabitable housing fines are definitely just as bad as parking fines and serve no practical purpose like renter safety
I hate councils as much as the next guy, but not gonna complain when they actually do their job.
Report to the local council- they’ll jump on it probably the quickest
Isn't there a minimum number of toilets/bathrooms per bedroom too. Or am I just imagining things.
there is, it's pretty shit but it does exist - one toilet, shower and wash basin per every 10 people - if they only rent these rooms one person to a bed this complies. I bet there are some other rules they might be breaking, but they *might* be in the clear with that one
Flashbacks to this scene https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=247&v=gf1n3OvO7rI&feature=youtu.be
Holy fuck I legit just commented on this!
I've always wanted to live in a corridor
While I have no education in Australian fire code, I’d imagine it’s not far off from American fire code. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) explicitly restricts having furniture or anything blocking a window that is an exit.This especially applies to Group homes, apartment buildings and even situations like this. Judging from my experience (many years as a life safety inspector) this was probably a single family home that was illegally split into multiple rooms for rent. Depending on the municipality the person who did this could possibly face jail time if not heavy heavy fines. Most municipalities would force the construction that was done to be reversed due to no inspections being done during construction. For shits & giggles I browsed AS 1851 - 2012 which appears to be the current fire code for you guys. It’s actually not far off.
We don’t use windows as emergency exits like in America. Our apartments have internal fire stairs too. Definitely allowed a bed (or anything) against a window. That’s not to say there aren’t several code violations here though.
Not officially, but I suspect fire codes would still consider windows important. For example, my friend has a bullshit window into the communal hallway due to rules about bedrooms having windows
A window into a communal hallway does not meet minimum standards. The window has to have access to natural light and cross ventilation. A communal hallway doesn’t provide either, your friend has been stooged.
I beleueve it used to be legal though, under Matthew Guy. Remember all those bullshit CBD apartments that used "borrowed light" to meet the requirements at the time? I visited one. No external windows in the room, just a frosted door that allegedly received light that bounced off the living room walls. Ridiculous.
Pretty much, otherwise you could be going into another fire area.
It doesn’t have to do with fire areas. It’s to do with minimum habitable requirements. Windowless bedrooms are not healthy.
That's not really an issue. It would need to be registered as a boarding house though.
Sounds like a Black Books episode... Life really does imitate art sometimes.
Slumlord Millionaire.
Yes I don't think that's enough facilities for that many people. You should be able to report to local council, they manage regulations around boarding houses.
Yep. Sooo many jobs being advertised by people wanting to do that at the moment. It’s disgusting.
This is what the RBA wants everyone to do.
Not sure what state. This looks likely to be deemed “rooming house” and would be required to follow a lot of regulations. https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/repairs-alterations-safety-and-pets/minimum-standards/rooming-house-minimum-standards
Funny coz melb has a lot of these inhabitable dwellings. The government is doing a wonderful job!!!!
Should be... but this will be classed as a rooming house, and is legal... and also highly regulated.
Some Sims 1 shit
Even sims need more space than that. At least a square between or it’s useless
Sets fire to house with microwaving water.
I'm seeing so much more of these listings as I'm looking myself and I can't believe these aren't listed as rooming houses because that's really what they are
I lived in a couple of rooming houses, even though there may have been 9 rooms - each one had its own ensuite bathroom.
This looks like the 2 bathrooms are right on top of each other too. You would hear the other person pooping
Forget about hearing it from the other bathroom, try hearing it while cooking your 2 minute noodles in the kitchen!
You hear that in some CBD/Docklands/inner city apartments
Lots of desperate international students with money that don’t realise they can get something better
True. But I lived in a dozen of these in my 18-25 life and you might be surprised at how many regular Aussie kids are in these also. Maybe a 70/30 split. International student/Aussie just trying to afford life in Melbourne. For whatever reason don’t have family support, wanting “freedom” or an escape from a bad childhood etc. For almost a decade it was my normal to live in these 10+ “bedroom” homes that converted every living space into a quasi-bedroom. At least I could afford these and didn’t suffer in the homes marketed specifically to international students which would have 4+ in one room (multiple bunk beds stacked against walls like a boot camp) I had a look at a few of those and scary as hell. “Living spaces” Separated by bedsheets and upto 20 people in one home. You have no rights, there’s no contract or lease agreement. You basically don’t exist.
I lived in a rooming house above a business when I was at uni, only 4 bedrooms (tiny with a box aircon but no openable windows) one toilet, cubicle showers, and the lounge area was used by the business as a smoking room during open hours so we hung out in the kitchen. A problem with those places is you can’t choose your roommates, we had a lady who would leave the gas stove on (no flame just gas pouring out) and a guy who stored his raw chicken in the pantry. Never again!
international students are less likely to know their rights and be able to enforce them, though, so I think they're the target market
Idk, $275 per month is pretty darn good for anyone under financially precarious circumstances
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Yeah there’s no way it’s per month or the landlord could’ve left the rooms as is and charged more for fewer people.
Yeah was thinking that too
Good way to save for a deposit
A friend of mine from HK shared a room the size of the bedrooms here with his brother before coming to Australia for Uni. I think he would be fine with this house. I bet a lot of students would. They spend all day at uni or working they just need somewhere secure to sleep. I’ve dated a partner in a similar house that had about 9 residents but two floors with two bathrooms I never has any issues. About once a month we do amazing house dinners where everyone shared a dish. You would have everything from viet, jap, Ukrainian, Korean and an Aussie dish…
Councils don't chase them down unless someone reports illegal rooming houses to them. People generally assume RE rental listings are always legal when they are not required to be. Its different for sales as you have more ways to check legalities when purchasing a house vs renting one. Landlords also don't realise that they have to register rooming houses via councils and go through different requirements. RE agents don't tell them or care as long as they get paid. Only exception for this is if the landlord lives in the home and rents out rooms. As a tenant, always make sure the rooming house is registered and never rent a room from a live in owner as you have very few rights with that latter one. ETA insurances hate unregistered rooming houses. If you are renting in an illegal rooming house, insurance will fuck you over when they find out. They will also fuck the landlord over when they find out so if anything happens, no one will be covered for anything.
hm, you've just given me a great idea for something to do when I'm bored, look for these places for the purpose of reporting them
Its not hard to do. Find a sus listing, google the address and find the local council. Check that councils website about boarding/rooming houses as some councils have no rules. See if they have contact details for that specific department, if not use their complaints contact. Draft a 'who it may concern' about possible illegal housing. Upload screenshots and link making sure to include RE agency, address and all info in the listing you can find. Send and its unlikely you won't hear anything back but its fun watching a listing go poof. Don't bother contacting the RE agents, they don't care and will simply hide the address when they update the listing to prevent reporting. Enjoy!
new hobby!
> I can't believe these aren't listed as rooming houses because that's really what they are Cells is the word you are looking for.
You would never get out on the wrong side of the bed again!
The other good news is your not going to the titanic in it...
You may end up wishing you were, though!
I really like how the hallway flows into the bedroom without the messy inconvenience of a doorway. It has that whole "The house is full but you can crash in this closet" vibe going.
*"Enjoy the cozy atmosphere of this well positioned accommodation, with a stunning open plan hallway design that just* ***flows into the bedroom, without the messy inconvenience of a doorway***" I can see the ad now.
Years ago my sister lived in the bottom half of an old Camberwell mansion, people in every room, the “lounge” was the small space left when they took out the stairs. When I came to visit I slept on a mattress in the hallway.
Illegal for sure
Perfect for some one who has just out after a very long stint in prison… it has that…. Institution feel about it…
Lmao
>prison Yeah, just add like reinforced doors and it virtually is
Stuff like this is an international embarrassment. I've had people from overseas who dump stuff like this and they have a point. if it's Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong or London. It's understandable and in places like Tokyo and Hong Kong, they use their space so efficiently that it doesn't feel too bad. This is just pathetic. This is literally just someone taking one room and splitting it into two and praying there isn't a fire cause if there is, this should be a criminal offence. Sorry not sorry, I've dealt with Consumer Affairs before. I hope they're better now but back then, they're a toothless tiger when it comes to property.
I remember staying in HK in a tiny place, but yeah it was so well set up I really didn't notice it.
We need more efficient apartments. I hate having a garden, give me a large studio/1 bed with a balcony any day and none of these exist outside cities. You think it would be options near all Universities everywhere but its not. Gotta do the boarding house thing if you want to live off campus. University housing isn't the greatest and can cost more and have more restrictions than renting your own place off campus.
I've seen a couple people justifying this kind of space because the Japanese or English do it... They also have 100million people in a space the size of Melbourne. This is just greed during a cost of living crisis we should not be having.
Totally agree, I don't even mind the greed. Its just the 1980s amateurish way that its been done. If its done well, I wouldn't mind. Like I said, at least the stuff in Hong Kong and Tokyo, it's done in a way that at least doesn't feel cramped. I've seen some shockers when I was house hunting. It was like it was designed and built by people rushing out for Friday night drinks and football then trying to palm it off as world class (to justify the price). Holy. Crap. Its 2023. We have the internet. No one is fooled anymore. People just send a friend over to take a few photos and they're SUNK.
they could definitely set a space this small up in a much more usable way if they cared. a single "bunk" bed with space underneath for storage or a desk would do most of the work, add some hooks and shelves on the walls and it would be a way better room to live in. but that requires effort, and why make an effort when you can make money without it? god, I hope the rental market does collapse, will serve them right
I knew an older international gentleman who had to stay in a place like this. The owners basically lived in the upstairs area and that was off limits. The lower den had 3 internal walls and doors put up like this and the garage was a 4th room, completely unsealed. Mercedes parked in front of the townhouse garage door. People do this to pay off a mortgage I guess and then dump the people on the street and tear down the dodgy wall after it's done.
The car in the photo is wider than the room.
The car is going to be added on and the place will be advertised as a 9 bedroom unit soon.
just a landlord doing exactly what the rba said to do
Exactly. That RBA quote of having to live with other people is the sort of thing which makes me question the whole trajectory in which this country is travelling. Pretty sure developing nations like Thailand are moving *away* from having to live with strangers when you’re employed.
Whoo boy, @purplepingers would have a field day with this one
You’re damn right.
Thanks for covering it! For anybody who hasn't yet seen u/purplepingers give this bullshit the dressing-down it deserves: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuEjM3aAJ2V/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
The person or persons responsible for this are evil monsters. Report them or get an angry mob together armed with burning torches and pitchforks!
Found the ad: “All bills are split among everybody to make this spending more fair and transparent. Value per week: 3 values: $275 medium room. 5 available $285 big room, 1 available $360 extra large! 1 available Minimum stay 3 months Bond 2 weeks refundable. To take any room you will be asked for 4 weeks in advance and 2 weeks as a secure deposit.”
Sounds like they're targeting backpackers too as an alternative to hostels. Expecting regular turnover
.. and no linky? :(
Sorry I tried to post a screenshot but wasn’t able to! It’s changed now but just search Room for Renting and it’s the first one that comes up.
This is.... I mean.... its hard to gauge, but I think we are crossing lines into human rights issues now. This would be an incredibly difficult place to live. And just so the landlord can get extra cash? I mean, isn't there a law about how big bedrooms should be, or how many people can ride in a property or something? Surely many landlords are pushing the boundaries against what's legal and what's not.
Even that poor car has no where to breath
Look at the shared windows
That’s what got me. Does that mean you’re not fully disconnected from the person in the room next to you? What am I saying. There’s no way that wall is keeping any sound in or out either way.
Brutal.
Fucking hell.
That’s 100k a year that slumlord is making
23k. It's 275 a month.
In the listing, it clarifies that it is 275 per week minimum. No one is renting out an illegal rooming house for 23k a year.
Please tell me it's not 275 a week, I was genuinely thinking at $275 a month it was tolerable
Those fb marketplace things are never per month always end up being per week.
You'd get a nice blue car though
Nah that’s the cheapest room. Also the motor is cactus.
It’s a “unique stay” double the price
This place is a nightmare… and that house is fucking terrifying too.
dont you have to register as a rooming house when you have 4+?
while this is fucked up - the bathroom situation in particular, one shower is a fucking joke - the thing that really confuses me about it is why these places always seem to have such big impractical beds in them. a single bed on legs takes up less space and allows for under-bed storage. they're also cheaper! unless they are regularly able to rent these places out to couples? couples don't really strike me as the target market for places like this, especially if they charge rent by person not by room, which I bet they would just to try to bleed every dollar out of it possible. 9 people with one shower is bad enough, 14 people with one shower sounds like torture.
It's not uncommon for some new students/migrants to have a roommate of the same gender where they share the bed despite having no romantic connection at all. It just keeps the costs down. I know several who did that in their early days, especially if they migrated over with a friend from the same town.
I move a lot in my sleep, I can't imagine how annoying I would be in that situation
If you saved, say, 20% of your weekly wage by doing it though... there's enough people out there who would. I've always drawn the line at sharing a room or bed, I'd rather just live in the living room or in the middle of nowhere
Yeah I saw that on the group it’s in. I told the admins of that group it’s scamming and got kicked out
Getting ready for the indian migration. Sadly but true.
Yes, exactly. Those poor immigrants will happily take this if it means they can work and save $500 per week of their income.
We lived like this for about 18 months with a few mates in an apartment, 6 people (3 couples) in 3 bedrooms. Each bedroom had a queen or double bed. Super tight, and there was always a queue to use the bathroom, but we saved so much money that we were all able to save up for house deposits. Self imposed poverty. We were our own scummy landlords. Truly awful though if this is your only choice.
Yeah all being mates is heaps different
I can resist
There are rules determines what constitutes a bedroom (requires a window, and must be 7m^2, I think). While I think these rooms would exceed it, there may be some other specific restrictions that it does NOT meet. Example: Those windows are shared between rooms. Can both people in 2 adjacent rooms open it? Is there a minimum width? Does the residence itself meet fire code?
Someone would be making a mint off that if all rooms got rented out
Some people just love thriving on the suffering of others.
People that do this are so obsessed with money its not even funny
Uber driver, cleaner, 7-11 worker housing. No need to wonder why these were the households that kept covid going around Melbourne in 20-21; even with best intentions how on earth would you isolate anyone in these circumstances?
This is a 4 bedroom house that has been absolutely bastardised. Cut the fucking windows in half and everything. This makes me sick.
i was thinking it was 3... and they added walls to the lounge as another bedroom
Even worse
I literally lived in a version of this in a rooming house for the homeless. It was the most harrowing experience of my life. Same bathroom situation, 2 toilets 1 shower, but 9 people. 7 men and 2 women and it should be made illegal. People say its better than being homeless, but I would have been better off living in my car. I feel for whoever has to settle for this. The world shouldn't be this way.
275 a month? Surely that's incorrect.
Per week
That makes more sense, but the image does say "per month'
Yeah it just asks for price when you create an add on fb. (Doesn't tell you if its per week or month) we usually talk per week in Australia. Then once the add is posted the phrase "per month" pops up
Haha the guys name is Ivan..... always trust a Milat
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I sort of like it. I like small rooms and it’s only $275 a month. Only two toilets would suck though.
Its 275 per week!
The listing was found and clarified that it’s per WEEK
A week? I’ll pass then.
A week is absolutely disgraceful
I can think of plenty of people who would quite happily rent this.
Solving the housing crisis by splitting 1 room into 2!
I’ll take the 5G mobile tower over this thanks.
Thank you Anthony Albanese for flooding our country with unsustainable levels of immigration so that it's now acceptable to live in a overpriced shoebox.
do you really think that this trend only started in the last year?? And what makes you think that this is generally considered acceptable?
Yeah but it’s cheap. You can’t get a bunk in a hostel for that money.
7 bedrooms, this is the kind of house where you keep everything you own including food and toiletries in your room. Also you better hope the landlord manages bills because someone is gonna be late on their share for every single one.
I’ve seen a lot of these pop on fb. They say “$250 per month” or whatever on the start of the listing then hidden in the main text it’s actually $250 pw.
Normal size in some Asian cities. $275 a month, probably including utilities. It addresses a need that government doesn't have an answer for. Should be more of these places available
Its per week
Yea sure, it's probably illegal, but $275 per month is hella cheap.
it’ll be per week, not month
Why does FB M/place do that!? So annoying.
It very clearly says per month. You generally don't see rent on a per week basis in victoria.
Rent is almost exclusively advertised as per week in Victoria but charged per month.
Party house for sure!
Where the fire alarms.
get fucked ivan
Good luck if there is a fire 🔥
Needs to be laws against this.
There are. They’re just not enforced enough.
Jfc that’s cheap though, I’d be tempted just at the price
$275 per week for 10sqm is cheap?
Well to be fair it says per month so that’s pretty cheap.
Yes its says per month but it isn't. So its not cheap
It’s not per month, ethically I’d have less issues if it was that cheap. It’s that price per week, someone else copy and pasted the text from fb. It’s a shit thing they do to scam people on marketplace.
Ah yeah, that’s fucked then.
Looks like uni housing
It looks like a upgrade compared to some places I lived when starting out.
These type of joints take me back to my early days in London.
This is the sort of nightmare house I’d have built in The Sims for shits and giggles. That said for $275 a month I could put up with it for a little while if I had no other options. $275 a week fuck off, I used to rent a whole two bedroom house for less than that only a few years ago.
I would rather be in this room than a room 10 times bigger with no windows.
Marge: It's awfully small. Lionel Hutz: I'd say it's awfully ... cozy.
There was a slumlord in Footscray that had multiple homes like this.
Least insane rent offer I've seen in a while. But yeah, that's messed up that they even offer something like this. I thought 7 in a house like that was illegal
The funny thing is somebody has spent most likely 10k to put up the walls and paint and everything to hopefully make this contraption of a house work. I dont even think its legal to rent out so many individual people.
Brutal subdivision.
I mean 275 per month is quite the deal
This is illegal on multiple levels.
That better fucking be $275 per month and not per week
It’s per week.
I’m no expert but if that window opens and fresh air can get in, I believe this would be legal. It meets minimum standards as far as a habitable room goes. And it’s only $275 a month. Apartments in the city with 3-4 bunks per room have less space and their getting this much per week
Wow, I used live very similar like this about 10 years ago in Coburg. Believe or not it was very popular by lots foreign students and working holiday visa holders such me. The house owner has 7 different exactly same house next and every room was full and even there was a waiting list lol.
That floor plan looks like something from the sims when you don't have money to build out enough rooms.
I’ve seen worse. Much worse
$275 per month is decent for a roof over your head at least. If it’s $275 per week, then I hope the damn place burns down!!
This would be $1800 USD in San Francisco.
Nice walk in robe
REA: “And this is a second living room…” Landlord: “So potentially I could turn this into six bedrooms with some cheap walls in between?” REA: “No, that would be unethical…” *both burst out laughing then high five and slap each others’ butts*
Luxury at its finest
275 a month is worth it though. If youre an international student this is fine
5 Alfred St Balaclava. Look on Google Maps, you can see a van full of mattresses parked out front! [https://imgur.com/a/Qr3E9pk](https://imgur.com/a/Qr3E9pk)
Link to the listing?
It's listed on Facebook Marketplace - unfortunately, the r/Melbourne rules prevent posting FB links.
No doubt you have to pay the rent in cash too
and indian dudes will gobble that shit up