Long term rental tenancy coming to Bondi
Long term residential leases have been a rarity in the Sydney rental market, but one landlord at Bondi Beach seeks tenants who won't face being turfed out - or want to leave - after just six months.
The seasonal turnover in Bondi tenants is most likely higher than most locations, but The Drift, (above) a new 16-apartment block just a stones throw from the beach, has been pitched at occupants who want to settle in for 24 months or longer.
"I'd be happy to offer 36 months or 48 months," the building managing agent Byron Rose said, saying it was a small step in Sydney embracing the lengthy-stay European rental model.
The one and two bedroom lettings will go to market with an open day next weekend.
The 12 one bedders with study nooks are offered with a guide of $800 and the four units with two bedrooms, and also with study, expecting to lease around $850 a week.
It is owned by an eastern suburbs family syndicate who have redeveloped the corner complex after 25 years ownership.
"The family see ownership as inter-generational, and would like to have longterm tenants too" Byron Rose, the Rose and Jones leasing manager.
He said the idea came from demanding young professionals who want residential surety while they save for their own home.
“They want to live in Sydney’s hippest suburbs, but face a choice of just older, run-down buildings that aren't inviting.
"They want to rent something they are proud of in a location they are likely priced out when it comes to buying."
Located on the corner of Hall and Gould streets, the apartments were designed by Silvester Fuller to fuse functionality and aesthetics.
They all include open plan living, a separate study hub and private timber-lined balconies with plantings.
The one-bedroom apartments have around 57 square metre internal space.
Besties Cherie Allen and Chris Perkins got a recent look and love that The Drift encourages long term tenancy. It will be their first time away from home and they've heard horror high turnover rental stories.
"Once I'm in, I'm not leaving," Allen said, admiring the craftmanship inside and the views outside.
There are wide window ledges which you can sit in, soak up the sun and watch world below, Perkins noted.
They don't want to do the rental inspections over and over again because the landlord wants to sell.
They've seen other places in Bondi backstreets that are old and run down - and you have to pay a lot for them.
Statewide there are around 750,000 properties rented officially, with around 250,000 of these tenants seeking bond refunds annually from the Rental Bond Board showing the very high turnover.
For many decades protected tenants existed in NSW, safe from eviction. Their number sat at 200,000 in the early 1960s - about 70 per cent of all privately rented accommodation.
That dropped to fewer than 800 by the mid-1990s, and as recent as last year there was a Homebush tenant claiming such status under the 1948 act as a child of the original lease owner.
No one is suggesting a return of the highly regulated days of protected tenants - where rents could only be raised by the Fair Rent Court - which stemmed as a result of wartime measures.
But with more elderly in the rental market, the market place pressure will see landlords giving thought to offering longer tenure.
This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.