Tasmanian rental market is the toughest in Australia trends now
Renters in a picturesque Australian city are pulling out all stops to try and find a home in a 'brutal' market that shows no signs of improving.
Hobart has been the nation's most unaffordable city to rent since 2018, and had an incredibly low vacancy rate of 0.5 per cent this year.
Renters are feeling 'hopeless' and 'depressed' after spending months dealing with rejected applications and battling crowds of '40 to 50' people at viewings.
Prospective renters in Tasmania, desperate for a roof over their heads, are feeling 'hopeless' and 'depressed' as they spend months facing rejected applications and crowds of '40-50 people' at viewings (pictured, homes in Hobart)
Disability worker Angus Harrold by chance landed a rental home in Rosetta, north of Hobart's CBD, this month.
He was searching with friends after attending 30 to 40 viewings over four months - as well as virtual tours.
Mr Harrold, 24, said he saw people on lunch breaks lining up to inspect the house, with one man jumping out of a St John's Ambulance in his uniform to check out the property.
'We ended up getting a place purely through somebody who knew someone else who was looking to rent the house out,' Mr Harrold told Daily Mail Australia.
He said his mum's neighbour worked with a landlord who had put a social media post up looking for tenants.
The neighbour then put in a good word for him and his friends so 'the timing was really good'.
'We were four guys trying to get a place and we are all in our twenties, we actually had a few places where we rocked up to the inspections and we were just straight up told, "look you're not going to get it".
The scenic city of Hobart (pictured) has been the most unaffordable city in the country to rent in since 2018, with an 'incredibly low' vacancy rate of 0.5 per cent
'Specifically because there is that stigma about [a group of male tenants] partying and being quite destructive, which isn't what we do, we are pretty nerdy, we just play video games.'
Mr Harrold said the process was tough, and made him and his friends question each other about what they were doing wrong.
'We had our finances and savings but we kept on getting knocked back and it was just like "is it our personality, are we acting too weird, do we not look the type?"
'It was quite depressing.'
He said he had to think up other ways to find a home, including bombarding real estate agents with questions about other available places when a bid for a property was unsuccessful.
'{We had to avoid being] brand loyal that's what we found, we had the most opportunities by literally going through every single person, checking Gumtree, checking Facebook, Hobart Buy and Sell,' he said.
Ben Bartl, principal solicitor at the Tenants' Association of Tasmania, told Daily Mail Australia some people are offering rent payments of three, six and 12 months in advance to score a place to live in Tasmania.
'A landlord is not allowed to ask for more than one month's rent in advance but if a prospective tenant was to offer it, it does give them an advantage, Mr Bartl said.
Ben Bartl (pictured), principal solicitor at the Tenants' Association of Tasmania said some tenants are offering three, six and 12 month rent payments in advance to score a place to live in Tasmania
Mr Bartl said real estates and landlords in Tasmania are only allowed to lease a residence for a fixed price but it doesn't stop renters from bidding higher.
'Many tenants feel they need to offer more for the property that it is advertised to get ahead of everyone else,'
