1/125 Westbury Street, Balaclava VIC 3183

Looking back, this apartment was one of the worst maintained places I have ever lived in. Rising damp and mould destroyed most of my furniture, and when I asked about installing a fan or air conditioner I was told it would spoil the building’s 'character'. The bathroom ceiling grew mould so thick it looked like coral, and the ground-level windows were rotting with no flyscreens, making the place insecure. The front door eventually stopped closing properly because the frame had warped. Rats got in through holes in the kitchen floor and we were blamed for not keeping the place clean, even though the issue was structural. Those holes were later patched with MDF. The old chimney above the stove constantly dropped soot and grit into food. The entire building was literally falling apart, and nothing meaningful was ever done to fix it.