Homes with rats, mould, sinking ceilings and mushrooms growing out the damp floors have been flagged as some of the nightmare rentals tenants have had to endure during this year’s rental crisis.
The problematic homes were among some of the few affordable homes listed for rent amid a climate of low vacancies and record levels of competition among tenants in many areas.
Experts said these conditions sometimes emboldened landlords to avoid repairs, leaving tenants in an uphill battle to get issues resolved.
Some of the most frustrated tenants have taken to social media and the internet to reveal the squalid living conditions they had to put up with.
This included a Queensland tenant living in Caboolture, who posted on shitrentals.org website details of a rental with an alleged mice infestation.
MORE: Aussies dudded $5k in wild bank loophole
“Property had a major rodent problem which escalated to a venomous snake issue chasing the mice,” the user commented on the website. “Owner would not adhere to pest control measures requested to break lease … refused to hold the owner accountable to liveable standards.”
The user uploaded images of mice that were allegedly around the property.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Images supplied about a rodent infestation in Caboolture. Photo: shitrentals.org
MORE: NASA plans 3D printed ‘Moon rock’ homes
In Carlton, in Sydney’s south, a granny flat was listed in March for $600 a week, with what appears to have peeling paint on hard concrete floors.
The listing claimed there was “a well equipped kitchen for all your culinary needs”, but images showed only a trestle table, plug-in stovetop and small sink. The exhaust fan appears to be a makeshift pipe that leads out the window.
Sydney property in suburb of Carlton listed for $600 a week.
Living room of the Carlton flat.
MORE: Rates call to spark chain reaction for housing
One tenant in Preston in Melbourne took to the internet and listed their rental after reportedly having so much rising damp and mould that a mushroom grew out of the carpet of their bedroom.
“Lived here for two years and had major issues with mould and rising damp. The carpet under my bed ended up completely wet and grew a whole mushroom in my room,” the tenant reported on shitrentals.org.
“The real estate were not bothered at all – she said it was from drying washing in the room, which is not something that was ever done.
“Also the property came with a dehumidifier which in hindsight is a bit of a red flag there’s issues with damp!,” they said.
MORE: Rare Airbnb, cafe sell off a big money spinner
Listing image vs. alleged mushroom growing in bedroom. Photo: shitrentals.org
A renter in Blacktown in Sydney took to the internet to report a “horrific mould issue that they continue to just paint over and hide”.
This was on top of allegedly the heat setting being turned off the ducted air system, leaving the house at a freezing temperature, a fireplace with a hole in the roof, rising damp and power points that weren’t strong enough to handle space heaters, according to the comment on shitrentals.org. Their advice for future tenants about the property was “run”.
Blacktown property with mould issues. Photo: shitrentals.org
Another renter asked their property manager for almost a whole year to fix dangerous defects in their apartment – they allege they were instead slapped with a rental increase and given 30 days to move out.
Sydney couple Faizan and Emma told The Daily Telegraph a tradesperson came in and attended to the issue by putting sticky tape on the floorboards. That was reportedly in January 2023. They claim they were then kicked out in March 2024 after making further requests for repairs.
Sydney tenants that had to put up with sopping, mouldy and warping floorboards until early this year. Picture: Tim Hunter.
“Water was seeping up through the bottom of the floorboard, it was unsightly,” Faizan said. “I slipped and cut myself and I was bleeding everywhere.”
He said they were constantly having to mop up water seep from the floorboards that started swelling, warping and caused mould to growing in their living room floor.
“We feel like we are being bullied by the property manager just because we asked for repairs,” Faizan said.
The damage in the apartment. Picture: Tim Hunter.
The fix. Picture: Tim Hunter.
Jordan Van den Lamb, creator of shitrentals.org and also known on social media as Purple Pingers, recently took to TikTok to call out a Doncaster rental property that had inaccurate images on the listing.
The property was listed for $620 per week and Mr Van den Lamb claimed the images used in the listing did not match the condition of the property upon inspection.
“It kind of reminds me of the last time I visited my grandma in 2016, which coincidentally, is the last time these pictures were taken,” he said in a video on TikTok.
Photos posted by @purplepingers on TikTok of a Doncaster rental. Photos: TikTok
“If you want to know what it actually looks like, heres some photos of what it looks like inside the house … That’s just piss, I have no joke there,” he said on a green screen in front of an image of stained carpet.
There was also an image of a stained shower with a large clump of hair.
Renters in Queensland’s Lawnton reported “the worst place (they) have ever lived,” with a cockroach infestation, black mould and trees growing in the gutter “destroying the foundation of the house.”
Additionally, they claim their landlord had restricted when they could do laundry, posting a sign on the washing machine.
Lawnton Queensland rental property. Photos: shitrental.org
“This is only because the landlord wants to get as much solar energy as possible so they can save 3 dollars. The property manager doesn’t submit your bond to the RTA, and plays games when you try to get it back. Please avoid this place like the plague!”
