Read the grim rental advert that perfectly sums up Australia’s cost of living crisis

A gloomy forecast is coming true for Aussie renters with shared room offers increasingly hitting the market.

Advertisements for rentals in inner west Sydney have been advertised with images of up to three single beds crammed into a room with asking prices of up to $270 per week.

The new trend comes just weeks after Phillip Lowe, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, ordered tenants to move in with more people to reduce rental costs.

The comments came after the RBA raised interest rates for the 12th month in just over a year, putting pressure on rents.

One of the rental properties in Broadway, near Sydney’s CBD, advertises a room for $170 a week.

Although much lower than the standard asking price, the room contained three single beds and a single closet.

‘Room of 3 available’, it says on the list.

$170 all inclusive. One bed is now available. 2 beds available on the 17th’.

Another room for rent in Chippendale was advertised as a “men only” shared room for $270 per week.

The listing includes a wardrobe and ‘also plenty of room for your room for storage’.

“Looking for someone kind, quiet and clean to occupy this room.”

In two-thirds of Sydney, rents rose by more than 10 percent in the past year.

While the rooms are a particularly unappealing alternative, they are a cheaper option for those struggling with higher rents and the cost of living crisis.

Dr. Lowe blamed the pandemic on fewer people living in Australian homes, resulting in fewer homes available to rent, driving up rents.

He suggested that more Aussies join share houses to help offset the higher costs.

‘The population will grow by two percent this year, will there be two percent more homes? No,’ he said.

‘Don’t the higher prices cause people to economize on housing? Kids don’t leave home because the rent is too expensive, or you decide to get a roommate or roommate,” the governor said at the time.

‘On average we need more people to live in each house and the prices do that.’

Dr. Lowe was criticized for the comments at the time, while Maiy Azize, who heads Everybody’s Home, a national campaign to end Australia’s housing crisis, said Low “don’t get it”.

“Young people are living at home longer than any other generation,” she tweeted.

‘Working people share a home until their thirties and forties.

“Many low-income people are stuck in overcrowded houses.

‘Learning people who are already the losers of the system doesn’t help.’

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, the Tenants’ Union of NSW accused Lowe of “missing the point” of the housing crisis with his advice.

“Like all advice that tries to place the blame for the problems of the housing system on the people who are being harmed by those problems, this advice misses the mark,” said Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of Tenants’ Union.

“Housing is an essential service and the responsibility for its failure lies with the government.

“Due to problems in our tax, planning and regulatory systems, we are not ensuring that people have quality, safe and affordable homes.”