Eagle Vale landlord goes viral after yard offer as housing crisis looms

With rental prices skyrocketing, building firms collapsing and the nation on the verge of a housing availability crisis, a man from Eagle Vale has made headlines and drawn the ire of thousands after offering a spot in his backyard for $130 per week on Facebook Marketplace.

The listing reads 'Land available for rent for short-term stay in your own tent or small shed (residential area, close to public transport and shops)... I am open to discuss power, water, WiFi, toilets and showers'.

While the opportunistic listing has drawn plenty of derision and anger - particularly over the lack of toilet and shower, some have defended the ad, claiming rates are comparable to a caravan park - despite the uncertainty regarding basic amenities.

The advertiser is also seeking $520 bond plus two weeks rent in advance.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Australians are currently experiencing rental stress as the cost of rising interest rates is passed on by landlords, with rental prices going up by an average of 31% in western Sydney over the past 12 months - and more pain is still expected.

Rental availability is also staggeringly low, and as such many tenants are being forced to cop increases on the chin or re-enter an increasingly competitive marketplace. Further adding to the problem, new houses aren't being built at the rates experienced in the 2010s, and forecasts about incoming migration keep getting worse and worse.

Is this aspiring landlord a blatant opportunist? Or is it just a sign of the times? Would you pitch a tent in someone's backyard for $130 per week?