“I’ll Live Anywhere,” says the desperate renter

A mid week open house for a pokey three-bedder in Newtown resulted in a virtual auction to become the lucky tenants. In the end the ‘winners’ offered about $100 per week above the asking rate and forked over 3 months rent in advance, as well as a bond that I assume would be approximately $1000.

This of course left those unsuccessful understandably disappointed. Some spoke to nearby news crews about their disappointment.

• “I’ll live anywhere”
• “I’m getting pretty desperate at this point”
• “I need a place in two weeks”
• “I can’t stay at my sister’s for much longer”

It was the first quote that pricked my ears the most. As what he was really saying was, I will live anywhere as long as it is close to the city. So do we really have a crisis or just a heap of selfish people that aren’t willing to step outside their comfort zone and the convenience of being close to the city for some affordable housing? There has been a unit in my building still not leased for about 3 months. If there were a crisis how come it hasn’t been snapped up. Parramatta and Wentworthville consistently have units and houses for lease. So where are these desperate tenants who will supposedly live anywhere?