Tiny cottage on the outskirts of town with no bathroom is put up for rent at a staggering price – sparking outrage over Australia’s cost of living crisis
- A small cubby rents for $175 a week
- The landlord says he helps tenants
- Others say he is abusive
A tiny cabin ‘barely wider than a two-seater’ has been advertised for $175 a week, sparking outrage among tenants amid Australia’s worsening rental crisis.
The cabin near Cygnet in Tasmania doesn’t even have a private bathroom and is half an hour outside the small town with little public transport.
Furious tenants called the exorbitant listing for the substandard home a “disgrace.”
“This little wooden box is barely wider than a two-seater sofa, has no bathroom, no kitchen and is a 25-minute walk from Cygnet,” one commenter wrote.
“If you had fitted that just five years ago, someone would have thrown you straight into the Tasman Sea.”
The ‘cabin’ near Cygnet, Tasmania is advertised for $175 per week
The interior does not contain a kitchen or bathroom and is “barely wider than a two-seater sofa”
Owner Micheal Darcy said he only tries to help people who are seriously struggling to find a place to live.
“If people had contacted me before they had a crack, they would see that I am an honest man who tries to help people,” he told the The Mercury.
“I share the main house with my 18-year-old daughter and we both work full time.”
‘I don’t charge for electricity, water or rates and I can’t get any cheaper with rising interest rates.’
Mr. Darcy insisted that the cottage be built in accordance with council standards and regulations and that whoever ultimately rents the cottage can share the kitchen and bathrooms in the main house.
He claims to have received more than 20 serious inquiries about the house.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted The Tenants Union of Tasmania and Huon Valley Council for comment.
Micheal Darcy said he has received 20 serious inquiries so far from tenants looking for a place to stay
There have been some dizzying finds on flatshare websites lately as Australia’s rental crisis spirals out of control.
Daily Mail Australia previously reported a metal shed advertised as a ‘granny flat’ that is about to be demolished after it was found to be in breach of state and council codes.
Meanwhile, in early February of this year, a balcony in Sydney with tarpaulin and curtains acting as walls was being offered for as much as $300 a week.
“Permanent” tents are also said to have appeared in Melbourne during housing shortages there, with prices ranging from $90 to $130 a week on balconies in the city’s CBD.
Professor Nicole Gurran, expert on urban planning and housing affordability, told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Young people who have given up hope of getting up the housing ladder are right to feel sad.
“They’ve ignored three decades of research evidence on how to make the housing system fairer and more efficient,” she said.
Professor Gurran said the Australian government could do more to give young people a fair chance to climb the housing ladder.
“Recent promises of a national housing plan and greater social and affordable offerings are important, obvious and immediate measures – such as increasing Commonwealth Rent Assistance; private rental sector reform; and requirements that new housing developments include affordable owner-occupied and rental housing continue to be overlooked.”
This ‘granny flat’ was listed online for $1,000 a month (pictured) before complaints led to the NSW Campbelltown council ordering its demolition.
‘Permanent’ tents (pictured) found on balconies, particularly in Melbourne, have been another option for desperate Australian tenants.