This house was too 'unhealthy' to live in, but David did. Experts say many Australians are in similar rentals

David Billett says his rental property was in such a squalid condition "a rat wouldn't live in it".

Key points:

• A council inspection found David Billett's rental "so unhealthy that no person can safely occupy [it]"
• Experts say Australia has a largely "unrecognised" problem of "poor housing"
• Much of the existing stock of owner-occupied properties is also likely to be of poor quality, an expert says

But he did — for three years — until the Circular Head Council found the house in Smithton, in Tasmania's north-west, was "so unhealthy that no person can safely occupy [it]".

Mr Billett said the foundations of the house were "going every point of the compass", leaving him fearing it may collapse on him.

"I had a kitchen falling south, I had a toilet falling north, lounge room falling west and bedroom falling south," he said.

"A lot of the time, when it was heavy rain, I was thinking, 'is it coming down on my head tonight? Am I going to be wearing the roof in the morning or what?'"

Mr Billett said it was the only rental he could find in the area, and that he rented it directly from the landlord, raising any issues with him.

"I just got responses, 'I'll get onto it, I'll get onto it'. Six weeks later, still hasn't got onto it," he said.

Mr Billett said during the second year of his tenancy in 2020, he stopped paying rent. 

The landlord told the ABC Mr Billett "cheerfully took on the property" that was not of substandard condition.

He said Mr Billett asked for repairs to be carried out "after ceasing rent". 

"As a landlord not being paid, being denied access to the property... it was very difficult to look at any maintenance that needed to be done or get a relevant trades person in," he said.

"The police were then engaged to serve the last notice to vacate, which was on the 27^th [of] July 2020.

"The site had been manipulated and not maintained to any standard for any normal home; therefore, the council was conveyed a very negative view of the property."

But Mr Billett said he kept the place clean and because the landlord did not address his concerns, he contacted the Circular Head Council's environmental officer, whose inspection found there was "widespread mould" present throughout the dwelling, the building had structural faults, window frames were "rotting" and insulation and heating were poor.

The council estimated that bringing the dwelling into satisfactory order would cost up to $30,000, and ruled that "human occupation and habitation of the premises" be prohibited "immediately".

"The above premises is in a condition that is prejudicial to health and unsuitable for habitation unless works are undertaken," the closure letter said.

Eighteen months without proper heating

Another tenant, Craig Vrybergen, lived for 18 months in a north Hobart rental without an adequate source of heating — which is illegal, according to the Residential Tenancy Act 1997.

Mr Vrybergen said the temperature in his home during winter was so "freezing" he had to "constantly wear jackets" inside.

"When you rent a house for hundreds of dollars, you expect to be able to have at least some decent heating and a dry roof over your head," he said.

Mr Vrybergen said when he told a Fall Real Estate agent the property had no heating, he was advised to provide it himself.

Fall Real Estate told the ABC the agent had "incorrectly" told Mr Vrybergen he had to supply his own heater, and that an agreement had been reached between the owner and the tenant to compensate for this "inconvenience". It also said a heater complying with the law was supplied "immediately" after the error was discovered. 

Both Mr Billett and Mr Vrybergen moved out of their respective houses and made complaints to the Rental Tenancy Commissioner (RTC) — the watchdog that hears and determines disputes — but no fines were issued to the landlords.

The Tenants' Union of Tasmania lawyer, Alex Bomford, who acted for both men, said the regulator was "a toothless tiger".

"They need to issue fines in cases where breaches have been found and they need to carry out random inspections of properties," he said.

 Mr Vrybergen said the temperature in his old rental was so "freezing" he had to "constantly wear jackets" inside.

The RTC said while it did not comment on individual cases, every complaint was taken seriously and investigated

"If a complaint is received, the RTC will attempt to resolve the matter in the first instance prior to taking further compliance action. This is in the best interest of the parties to the tenancy agreement," it said.

"It's important to note there can be a number of reasons a complaint does not result in penalties. This can include a complaint not being substantiated or not being made within the statutory time frames."

In Tasmania, of 105 substantiated complaints made to the RTC in 2020, just three resulted in a fine.

'About 1.1m Australians live in poor housing'

Experts say Australia has a largely "unrecognised" problem of "poor housing".

"Perhaps about 1.1 million Australians live in poor or very poor housing conditions," Dr Lyrian Daniel from the University of Adelaide said.

A study of about 15,000 rentals across Australia, conducted by the university in 2019, found a quarter of respondents lived in unhealthy housing.

"That's just an incredibly high proportion if you think about the health impacts of cold, mould and damp," Dr Daniel said.

"We sort of think we have quite reasonable housing but actually we probably don't".

"There's this legacy of being a little bit blase about our housing quality and condition that has led to this, that perhaps might not have occurred so much in other countries."

Dr Chris Martin from the University of New South Wales said it was difficult to estimate the condition of owner-occupied properties in Australia, but much of the existing stock was likely to be substandard.

"It doesn’t really get a determined look at, except when it’s being traded — and even then it’s consumers who are left to drive the improvement in the condition of property," he said.

"People throw money at [houses] in order to acquire an asset that they think they can lever an even bigger speculative investment, or because they think they can turn around and sell it to someone for more."