“I’m honestly over living here, but I just can’t afford to go anywhere else,” says Emily [not her real name], who lived for years in a mouldy rental.
The rental crisis in Canberra has reached new heights this year and too many low-income renters are scraping the barrel just to afford a roof over their heads, which is likely to end up being an unhealthy home.
Emily has been fighting her landlord for basic rental repairs for several years and was forced to live with a mouldy shower for three years.
“Our shower broke in November 2018, and we only got it fixed this year,” Emily said.
“It cracked from the heat of the shower as it’s old glass. We reported it straight away and we had a bathroom sealer come out and say it needed resealing but didn’t actually measure or fix the screen.”
After not hearing back about the issue, Emily said she contacted her property manager again to see if the screen was going to be fixed and, after multiple messages back and forth, was told that the landlord was ignoring the property manager.
“I finally had enough and sent the real estate an email stating the glass was no longer classified as safety glass, and if my arm or leg went through the screen, I would have to hold the real estate and the owner personally responsible for any damage,” Emily said.
“We were first a bit confused as to why they were talking about resealing the shower in the first place, because we were just concerned with the broken screen, but that’s when we noticed the mould.”
She said she would clean the mould every weekend, but no matter what she did, it would have grown back by the next weekend.
“We were of course concerned about our health, but the real estate and owner didn’t seem to care much until I started talking about taking legal action. We still live in the house, as we just can’t afford to move, but it’s just falling apart and the landlord doesn’t care,” Emily said.
“It’s just a 30-year-old house in its original condition, so it’s falling apart. It has so much potential, but we just can’t get anything done.”
With every urgent repair she has ever contacted the property manager about, Emily said it’s only when legal action is threatened that anything is fixed.
“The real estate agent has said that he takes forever to reply and isn’t prompt with repairs. They just kept saying they are chasing the landlord but can’t do anything without his approval, and it was only when I mentioned the glass wasn’t safe and I’d hold them accountable did the landlord and they act on it,” she said.
“The carpet is over 30 years old, and the underlay is literally disintegrating under our feet – you can feel holes and bumps and it’s fraying around the edges. Our bathroom vanity was measured to be replaced when we first moved in 2017, but nothing has come of that.”
She said the real estate agency is generally on her side and treat her well, apart from one property manager who no longer works with the company, but it would seem her landlord has no concern for her health or wellbeing.
“I know I have rights and can’t really be evicted, but sometimes I’m still too scared to ask for repairs so I just do them myself if it’s simple and either ask for the money back or just cop the price,” Emily said.
“People need to feel like they are valued and not just money makers. It feels like all he cares about is the money we are paying. He wants the money but doesn’t want to do the work.”
Have you had a bad experience as a renter with a landlord or real estate agency? Share your story with [email protected] or in the comments below.
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