Convenience: in every sense of the word, 4/201 O’Connell Street has it.
Ablute without ever having to take your eyes off the television or interrupt your dinner party conversation.
A studio apartment in inner-city North Adelaide has attracted ridicule online with its unconventional placement of the … ahem … facilities.
The joint shower-and-toilet glass cube has been installed next to the studio’s kitchen. Critics online described it as akin “to your first custom house in the Sims” or boasting the aesthetic of a “Swedish prison”.
And it can be all yours for $400 a week.
201 O’Connell Street is a heritage-listed late Victorian-era building, built in 1892 for all of 900 pounds, and has since been subdivided into seven apartments.
“Perfectly positioned within North Adelaide and set in a small complex [sic], this property is perfect to call your next home,” unit 4’s online advertisement says.
“This spacious, fully furnished upstairs studio offers the lifestyle that everyone deserves. Providing fantastic finishes, great access to all amenities, and step out onto O’Connell Street and enjoy some of the best eateries in Adelaide.”
South Australia’s Housing Improvement Regulations lay down minimum requirements for all homes in the states. The regulations state all “residential premises must be provided with … an oven and a cooktop”. The studio does not appear to have an oven or a cooktop.
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The regulations also state: “Each room containing toilet or bathroom facilities must afford adequate privacy to the user; each room containing a toilet must not open directly into a room used or intended to be used for the storage, preparation, cooking or consumption of food unless ventilated using an exhaust fan or similar device.”
Ray White’s real estate agent Rachel Lawrie told ABC the listing met all building code specifications. Otherwise, it would not have been listed.
“All people applying for it have to see it in person; they are knowre are no cooking facilities,” she said.
“The glass [in the bathroom] is frosted and tempered. Everything is to code.”
Lawrie said she expected the studio to be let by the end of the week.
South Australia is currently the tightest rental market in the country, with just three residential properties in 1,000 vacant.
“Adelaide continues its reign as the most competitive capital city to find a rental,” Domain’s latest rental market report says, “with vacancy rates sitting at 0.3%.”
Rising rents reflect that hyper-tight market: rents in the South Australian capital are up 9.4% from a year ago, Domain’s figures show.
The property caught the attention of Twitter … but it was not well received.
Look at this listing. They’ve turned a single room from a house into a “self-contained” apartment that violates soooooo many regulations it’s not funny. Because it’s in North Adelaide, they want $400 a week. pic.twitter.com/uA3286cIkj
In response to the state budget delivered this month, the South Australian Council of Social Services said many in the state “continue to struggle”.
“We have a genuine crisis around rental affordability, and cost of living pressures mount by the day,” a spokesperson said.
“No doubt we need more action and long-term investments in public housing to help address rental affordability. Far too many people struggle to find a home, let alone one they can afford.”
