The Bondi room has been labelled a 'prison cell' on social media. Photo / Facebook
The Bondi room has been labelled a 'prison cell' on social media. Photo / Facebook
It's so small that perplexed Sydneysiders are calling it a bed with walls, but the backpackers trying to let a minuscule Bondi bedroom for A$300 ($331) a week say good things come in small packages.
A social media advert for the tiny room has stoked anger and disbelief. One commenter even said it represents "everything that's wrong with Sydney real estate in one photo".
Posted on a North Shore marketplace page, the room inside a shared apartment with two backpackers can be seen with a double-bed fitted snugly alongside two windows.
It appears to be almost touching three sides of the room's walls, but the women advertising it championed its location.
"Ten minutes walking to Bondi Junction," they wrote. "Five minutes walking to Coles."
"At least you can't get out of the wrong side of the bed," joked a third.
The advert has sparked anger. Photo / Facebook
However, some of the comments were less jovial and accused the landlord of being "greedy".
"This is a joke right?," wrote one commenter. "If not, then the landlord is suffering from a disease called GREED! Ripping of young people like this is just shocking!
"Rip off!" wrote another. "At this price no wonder people are struggling and homeless cause there are greedy people like this post."
However, the two backpackers who want someone to take the room told news.com.au the room was a good deal for backpackers — who are forced to fork out far more to stay in hostels.
"It's a fully-furnished bedroom with a queen-size bed, blankets, pillows and sheets, a wardrobe and two little wardrobes," one of the advertisers said.
"It is not very big, but very comfy with lots of windows. The apartment has also a comfy living room with a TV to hang out. Wi-Fi connection is really good and it's A$14 a month.
"Bills are extra, and the rest of the bills is paid each three months, but it's not a high amount."
She responded to the criticism online, saying she used to pay more when she stayed in a hostel.
"In the end, you need to decide if it's worth it, but I used to pay more in a hostel in CBD and also you could share the price with another person," she said.
Despite the seemingly high asking price, rent prices for apartments in Sydney are actually dropping according to new SQM Research figures.
The startling data shows desperate landlords are having to slash rents to get city dwellers to move into their properties as new data shows our cities are littered with empty homes.
While there's a mixed picture for Melbourne and Brisbane, Sydney has just recorded its highest vacancy rate in at last 13 years — with 2.8 per cent of the city's units and houses sitting unoccupied.
And they say it's only going to get worse in the coming months.
That adds up to 19,572 residential rental dwellings estimated to be sitting vacant and available for rent, and experts say it could signal a dramatic slowdown in the city's economy.
The figures show affluent areas of Sydney, such as the eastern suburbs where the infamous tiny bedroom is advertised, have been hit particularly hard by the rocketing vacancy rates.
The affluent and traditionally sought after lower north shore and eastern suburbs are racking up thousands of empty properties, with vacancy rates of 4.1 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.
SQM managing director Louis Christopher told news.com.au all this adds up to a better deal for renters, who now have the upper hand as landlords are being forced into being more competitive.
"These are the highest vacancy rates we've seen in Sydney since we started compiling this data in 2005 and the situation is only going to deteriorate," he said. "We are expecting the vacancy rate to rise above 3 per cent by the end of the year."
