The price: 5,000 Australian dollars (3,000 euros) per month for a very nice apartment in what is undeniably a prime location in Sydney: the boulevard a stone’s throw from the iconic surfers’ paradise Bondi Beach.
No daylight
But then comes the catch. The building is being extensively renovated. Very radical in fact: daylight is no longer there, because the entire glass facade has been replaced by large construction panels. The balcony is not accessible. And expect ten hours every working day and long-term nuisance every Saturday from the construction workers who are working on the other side of those construction plates. The brochure does not say how long the renovation will take.
Anyone who thinks they can spot a golden opportunity under the guise of ‘just biting the sour apple’ will be disappointed. First of all: how long does ‘a moment’ last? The broker doesn’t say anything about it. The British newspaper The Guardian has an idea. Some interested parties who had come to watch spoke to the newspaper: the nuisance will last at least nine months, the real estate agent told them.
Then rent goes up
And for those who are even willing to do that, it is not the case that you will then reap the benefits of your resilience. Because the rental price of 5,000 dollars per month only applies to the period of the renovation. After that it becomes almost $11,000 per month. But that is what you pay in Sydney for an apartment in an A-location.
“You would almost think it was an April Fool’s joke, but this is Sydney,” said Jenny Leong of the opposition party The Greens NSW in The Guardian. “We have now reached a point in the housing crisis where landlords are even trying to rent out construction sites as homes.”
