Rental crisis: Aussie landlord slammed over 'illegal' shed going for $290 per week

As the rental crisis continues to put pressure on Aussies desperate to find a home in a hostile market, one TikToker has ripped into a Perth landlord's listing for a "granny flat" that experts say is illegal.

The Facebook Marketplace ad was ripped to shreds by real estate commentator Rach McQueen, who gave her 66,000 followers a tour of the rental, which was advertised as a converted shed.

The listing claims to have an "open space" with amenities such as a shower, toilet, gas, stove and air-con. There's also an option for it to be leased furnished or unfurnished.

'Makeshift slum'

"Starting with these power cords hanging precariously on these metal poles in the ground," Ms McQueen begins. "I don't know where they lead to, but I can almost definitely guarantee that this is not f**king safe. Especially considering I can see the end of one of the power cords right here, exposed to all of the weather."

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Referring to the dwelling as a "makeshift slum", the TikToker flags a few details such as the roof, floor, carpet and furniture which includes a "sad" couch.

"Moving on to the kitchen – and this is where things really start to get interesting. So they weren't lying. There actually is an air conditioner and a gas cooktop," she says. "However, what there is not, is any type of ventilation near the gas cooktop – not a range hood, not a window in sight. And they've disconnected the fire alarm for when this f**ker does go up in flames."

Ms McQueen also highlighted what the landlord meant about the open space. "Yes, that is the bathroom just here behind these free-standing kitchen cabinets that have been used to convert this shed," she points out.

"And yes, you will be staring at it all the time because not only is there no wall dividing this from anything, there is also no door. And these people haven't even bothered to put up a room divider to try and make it look like it's separate. So you'll be preparing your food right here and your toilet is right there."

An exasperated Ms McQueen made another observation: "I do see this laundry sink, which is actually the only sink on the entire premises. So this is your laundry sink, kitchen sink and bathroom sink all combined into one."

She also warned of potential mould problems resulting from the back of the kitchen cabinet being exposed to the dampness of the bathroom. All this is on the market for $290 per week, which she calculated would require someone to earn $966.70 weekly after tax to be able to afford the accommodation without being considered to be in rental stress.

'Illegal in so many different levels'

Yahoo News spoke with members of the construction industry, who all agreed that the supposed granny flat is not built to code. Commenting anonymously, one building and construction professional said the rental property is "illegal in so many different levels".

Some of the more obvious issues can be viewed straight away, he said. "Legally you cannot live in a shed (Class 10a). This is stated In National Construction Code (NCC) in Volume 2, Part A3. Class 10a: a non-habitable building or structure being a private garage, carport, shed or the like," he pointed out.

"For energy efficiency reasons – the insulation, the percentage of natural light and percentage of openable windows or doors are non-compliant," he added. "For health reasons, the design of the bathroom near the kitchen is very unsafe and the lack of natural or mechanical ventilation is non-existent and non-compliant."

Although not an electrician or plumber, he noted that it's easy to see there is non-compliance with many things in regards to these services: "I'm sure that there would be a list 50 pages long with non-compliant issues that would need resolving."

"But after all of that, really the only thing that matters is that this shed cannot legally be allowed to be rented out to a tenant for a sum of money, as it is illegal to live in a non-habitable structure. There are vastly different requirements to a habitable (Class 1) residential property," he clarified.

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