Niamh Shackleton
Landlords often find a reason to hike up your rent - but should working from home be one of them?
One Australian landlord has sparked a debate online after asking people for their advice on how much he should increase his roommate's rent because they work from home regularly.
The unnamed individual from Sydney penned online: "What kind of rent adjustment would be fair? Keen to know what other share houses do."
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But working from home in isn't uncommon, with some statistics showing that 29 percent of Aussies worked from their homes last year, according to finder.com.au.
However, the homeowner further explained that part of their shared home would be 'out of bounds' while his roommate was working - making it a bit of an inconvenience.
So, with this in mind, would it be fair to hike up the price of someone's rent?
His question has received an array of mixed responses; while some labelled him as 'greedy', others understood where he was coming from.
"Have we lost our humanity? What next... Charge extra rent if they come home at 3 am once a month," asked one woman, as per Mail Online.
"This has got to be joke," fumed another.
"How do you divide up your bills? Do you time their showers? Monitor their electricity usage, how long they're using the stove for and how much storage they take up in the fridge and how many cycles or washing they do?
'"I can't believe you have housemates who would actually put up and live with you."
Someone else went on to quip that the flat in question has 'a surcharge for using the kitchen during peak hours and we have a timer in the bathroom in case you take too long a poop break during chore time'.
But others came to the homeowner's defence, stating that some may opt to may more rent or bigger rooms so they have their own space to work in so they're not preventing people from using the communal spaces.
"The communal space should be communal," one person argued.
"If one person is utilising that space 40 hrs per week preventing others from using it as needed, then it is no longer communal. It's pretty simple.
"Just think about how you would feel if suddenly you can't leave your room when you need to to make lunch because that person is on a private work call in the kitchen."
Another replied: "I've also had housing situations get very suffocating because people were WFH maybe more than I expected. Plus it is slightly annoying to pay equal bills and such when usage is likely not equal."
What do you think?