Bri's story

First, a newly appointed real estate agent placed the household on a fixed-term lease and increased their rent by 19%. Then, in the spring of 2023, an eviction notice came, with no explanation or reason for the eviction provided.

Brianna and her wife used to share a two-bedroom apartment with another pair of roommates in Dulwich Hill. When they first moved in, the place wasn’t perfectly maintained, to say the least. The real estate agent took 117 photos of various defects, maintenance issues and existing damage to the property when the condition report was compiled at the beginning of the lease. Nevertheless, Brianna and the others liked their rental. The apartment was in a small building of 8 flats, conveniently located near buses and local shops.

Things started to turn for the worse three years into their tenure. First, a newly appointed real estate agent placed the household on a fixed-term lease and increased their rent by 19%. Then, in the spring of 2023, an eviction notice came. The note arrived via email, backdated three weeks, and with no explanation or reason for the eviction provided.

Brianna and her flatmates were surprised and unsettled. A feeling made worse when it became clear that theirs was not the only household asked to leave. The whole building, all eight flats, as well as two other buildings in their street, were all evicted at the same time. It seemed the same real estate agency who managed their property was in charge of other units in the area as well, and all residents were being treated the same way.

Suddenly a portion of a small neighbourhood had several groups of newly evicted people looking for new homes in the area. With the competition for already scarce apartments made even greater, Brianna and her flatmates had to split up to attend all available inspections and rush to secure a new home. The group cleared out their savings to pay the bond on a place in Ashfield, not far from where they used to live. The new flat is smaller than their Dulwich Hill unit, but well maintained and, most importantly, well priced. Meanwhile, their old apartment was re-leased two weeks after Brianna and her household left, for $140 more weekly in rent and seemingly without any improvements to the standard of the property.