Apartment 220, 140–162 Swan Street, Richmond VIC 3121

We lived in this apartment at the Icon building in Richmond from late 2020 to mid-2023. For two years it was a comfortable home, but the experience quickly soured when the landlord decided to sell. We endured ten months of constant open inspections every second weekend, intrusive mid-week showings and constant communication from the agent. When we tried to buy the apartment ourselves, our offer was dismissed and we later learned the agent was encouraging buyers to use their short-stay business instead. After we challenged an illegal rent increase that came only four months after another, we received a 60-day notice to vacate on the basis of a 'change of use' to short-term rental. The property never became short-stay; it was simply re-let to another long-term tenant at a higher rent. The entire process showed how easy it is for property managers to manipulate the system to favour landlords and short-stay profits over secure housing. Next Level Asset Management were dismissive, aggressive and unethical throughout.