Landlord’s bizarre request after asking tenant to move out of their house over the Christmas holiday

A landlord has turned heads after making an extraordinary request and asking a potential tenant if they would temporarily move out of the house during Christmas. 

After submitting a rental application for a 12-month lease on a $650 per week listing in Melbourne, the tenant received an email from the landlord’s real estate agent.

The message questioned whether they would be okay to vacate the premises for a few weeks over the festive holidays.

The real estate agent revealed the landlord intended to agree to a 12-month lease as long as the potential tenant was okay with them using the property as an AirBnB for three weeks in December.

A screenshot of the email was posted to Reddit with the caption: ‘All was going well until we received this banger of an email this morning’.

‘I think I laughed for about four solid hours after,’ the user wrote.

The real estate agent starts the email off by stating that the ‘scenario may not suit’ the potential tenant.

‘He (the landlord) is looking at options for longer term residents, but also considering Air BB as they want to use the house for a few weeks over the Christmas period,’ the email reads.

‘This would effectively mean that you would need to move out for a few weeks over Christmas.’

The agent then says the other option is to take a short term lease and break it off earlier before the landlord transitions it into an AirBnB.

‘Let me know you thoughts when you have a moment, and if you don’t want to proceed I understand,’ the agent wrote at the end of the email. 

The potential tenant was emailed by the landlord’s real estate agent (pictured) after they applied for a 12-month lease and leaving them laughing ‘for about four solid hours’

The post received numerous comments from Reddit users who were outraged by the ‘audacity’ of the landlord to make such a request and suggesting ways for the tenant to get back at them.

‘The landlord can put you up in a 5 star suite for the 3 weeks over Christmas, pay for removalists, pay for a storage unit, pay for the move back in, and reimburse you for 2 months rent,’ one user wrote.

‘From the sound of that email that person really didn’t want to send that email because they were aware of how s****y of an offer it was but was obligated to do so anyway,’ a second wrote.

‘Sign the twelve month lease, then offer them the place for $500 a day. Just go full circle on the Airbnb nonsense,’ a third user suggested.

‘Hopefully there’s no takers, and the grub landlord puts it on AirBnB but gets f**k all bookings over winter and then f**k all over the holiday period because they want to use it during peak season,’ a fourth wrote.

The practice appears to be a common occurrence in the coastal towns that see larger demand for short-term accomodation during holiday periods.

‘I’ve heard of that in Torquay (and I thought it was so so dumb) but even dumber inner city,’ a user commented.