Students here's a few housing issues you might have when you come to Melbourne and how to deal with them.
1) Lack of Information about housing rights and responsibilities At this years orientation RMIT did not give enough information about rights and responsibilities. All they did was give out brochures. The housing guides didn't do much to talk about rules and responsibilites
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2) Soaring rent- In Melbourne an average room in inner city is $360 per week. Years ago it was cheaper. Now Melbourne is in a rental crisis, hence it is hard for students to find the right place to live that is close to campus. Many students live quite far from the city.
Some of them live in cramped conditions or in garages turned into bedrooms. Some small places have up to eleven other tenants living there. This can really disturb your studies as you can be really cold, squashed and might be wet.
3) Issues with landlord/flatmates
Is the landlord hassling you? They are not supposed to. Or are they being discriminatory? Is the landlord charging you more than they should (ie. two months rent for one month of living there). You can talk to the landlord about this. If they can't help talk to the Consumer Affairs Victoria. Make sure that you get everything in writing from the time that you paid the bond.
4) Scams- Nowadays a lot of International students are being conned into renting without seeing the property. Usually the ads are placed on Gumtree or Flatmates.com. The landlord often claims that they are away which means that you can't see the property and you'd have to rely on pictures. A lot of International students might lose a lot of money over this.
Do you like your flatmates? Or are they really giving you a rough time? If so try and talk to them. If you can't then move out.
Remember that you don't have to accept the first house that you fell in love with. As the saying goes "There are other fish in the sea" and you need roughly two to three weeks to find the perfect place.
Make sure that you have an actual interview with your potential landlord and flatmates. You might have lots of questions to ask and it is better to get things out in the open. Also make sure that you actually see the property first before paying any money
1) Lack of Information about housing rights and responsibilities At this years orientation RMIT did not give enough information about rights and responsibilities. All they did was give out brochures. The housing guides didn't do much to talk about rules and responsibilites
Some of them live in cramped conditions or in garages turned into bedrooms. Some small places have up to eleven other tenants living there. This can really disturb your studies as you can be really cold, squashed and might be wet.
3) Issues with landlord/flatmates
Is the landlord hassling you? They are not supposed to. Or are they being discriminatory? Is the landlord charging you more than they should (ie. two months rent for one month of living there). You can talk to the landlord about this. If they can't help talk to the Consumer Affairs Victoria. Make sure that you get everything in writing from the time that you paid the bond.
4) Scams- Nowadays a lot of International students are being conned into renting without seeing the property. Usually the ads are placed on Gumtree or Flatmates.com. The landlord often claims that they are away which means that you can't see the property and you'd have to rely on pictures. A lot of International students might lose a lot of money over this.
Do you like your flatmates? Or are they really giving you a rough time? If so try and talk to them. If you can't then move out.
Remember that you don't have to accept the first house that you fell in love with. As the saying goes "There are other fish in the sea" and you need roughly two to three weeks to find the perfect place.
Make sure that you have an actual interview with your potential landlord and flatmates. You might have lots of questions to ask and it is better to get things out in the open. Also make sure that you actually see the property first before paying any money
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