It’s a dirty business indeed to take advantage of international students far away from home. But, some landlords in Australia are going a step further.
Sydney Morning Herald reports that a ROGUE landlords in Marsfield in Sydney's north west are piling as many as 20 students into shoddily converted family homes, demanding cash in hand and advance notice of visitors to avoid detection by authorities, international students say.
Some landlords are offering cut-price accommodation to female students in return for sex, while others have been the subject of a six-month investigation in relation to other crimes.
The NSW Minister for Citizenship and Communities, Victor Dominello, said mock boarding houses had sprung up close to universities across Sydney. He is proposing laws to regulate them. About 300 operate in his electorate of Ryde with more in Parramatta, Burwood, Strathfield and the city, he said.
''They board up the bedrooms, the dining rooms and the garages so instead of a three-bedroom house for a family of five, you've got a three-bedroom house that's transformed into a fifteen-room boarding house. That's where it's just not right,'' he said. ''The kids are being exploited.''
International students were particularly vulnerable because many were unaware of their rights and had limited English, Mr Dominello said.
Landlords evaded council regulations by doing their own conversions without approval. The converted houses often lacked locks, fire alarms, illuminated exit signs, rubbish bins and safe electrical wiring, he said.
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