Landlord slammed for “dirty trick”
A landlord has come under fire for using an unusual advertising technique to lease out a studio apartment in Leeds, UK.
Vice writer Joel Golby noticed the one bedroom studio flat available to rent for £535 ($943AUD) a month excluding bills on real estate website Zoopla, when he noticed some very out of place accessories.
Almost all of the photos attached in the advertisement featured shopping bags from luxury brands such as Harrods, Chanel and Harvey Nichols.
The landlord had increased the price of staying at the property by £9 since the ad was first created, despite its bleak appearance.
“The Chanel bag is there to dazzle us: we, foolish non-property owning fools like we are, will easily be distracted by the bag, and ignore the fact that the living room and kitchen are only demarcated by slightly different carpet textures because we know the person renting it to us owns either a really nice card holder or a too-expensive belt,” Joel wrote.
Despite being listed as partially furnished, the property seems to have all the basic amenities and little space for the renter to bring much of their own belongings.
The photos of the flat include images of the small kitchen, living room, bedroom and half of the bathroom, with most surfaces adored with the luxury boxes.
Joel slammed the landlord’s “dirty trick”, and challenged readers to share their own stories of upselling rental advertisements, as well as any potential tenants for the “miserable” studio apartment.
Image credits: Zoopla