Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has finally sent a long-time tenant packing from his investment home.
Mr Albanese has listed the three-bedroom Dulwich Hill property in Sydney’s inner-west for sale with expectations a successful bid could reach $1.9million, news.com.au reported.
Despite begging the Prime Minister not to sell up, long-time tenant Jim Flanagan revealed in May that he had been forced to search for a new place to live.
The 45-year-old small business owner had be paying $680 per week on the townhouse, which is part of the Mr Albanese’s $4million property portfolio.
Mr Albanese gave his tenant 90 days notice to leave the home in May, clarifying through his agent that he intended to sell the property.
Mr Flanagan was reluctant to go public with the notice, but felt he had no other option to try and keep his tenancy.
The Prime Minister will pocket a decent $700,000 profit if the townhouse sells for its expected $1.9m price, having bought it for $1.175 million in 2015.
After growing up in public housing, the Prime Minister’s $4million property protfolio currently includes two rental homes in Sydney, including a mortgage-free federation bungalow with a pool while he splits his time between the Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured with partner Jodie Haydon) has given the tenant of his Dulwich Hill investment property the flick after a 90-day eviction notice came to an end
Mr Flanagan received the eviction notice from his real estate on May 8, which informed him that Mr Albanese ‘could be selling the house at some stage’.
‘Please be advised that the landlord requires vacant possession of the property… 90 days after the service of this letter,’ the notice stated.
Mr Flanagan then asked for clarification on whether it was the landlord’s desire he vacate the property, which the agent confirmed.
He was spurred into trying to stay on after reading about the Albanese government’s $1.9billion package to slash rental costs for vulnerable people announced in federal budget.
‘It just doesn’t sit well when (Mr Albanese) is trying to be sympathetic with the majority of Australians who are, like me, finding the current climate extremely challenging,’ Mr Flanagan said.
He said he voted for Labor in the 2022 election and mostly supports the party’s policies, but he is doing it tough as the bar he owns is struggling.
Jim Flanagan, 45, (pictured) had begged Mr Albanese not to sell the home as the cost to rent was significantly lower than current rates for similar homes in the area
The Prime Minister previously revealed the decision to kick Mr Flanagan out and sell the home was due to ‘changing circumstances’ and his upcoming wedding to Jodie Haydon.
‘I am entitled to make decisions in my personal life including selling a property that I own because I wish to move on in my personal life in a different direction,’ Mr Albanese said at the time.
‘The property was bought when my personal circumstances were different.’
Mr Albanese reduced the rent for Mr Flanagan and his then partner to $680 a week during the pandemic, and has not raised it since.
The three-bedroom townhouse in Sydney’s Inner-West (pictured) is expected to fetch about $1.9million after Mr Albanese bought it for $1.175 million in 2015
Mr Flanagan added that the Prime Minister ‘has been a great landlord’ and ‘very generous’.
Rent for a similar property in the same area, which is a short walk away from his bar, is likely to be around $800 a week.
Mr Flanagan’s former partner Chrissy Flanagan has previously opened up about what it was like having the PM as a landlord.
In a video on TikTok in 2022, she praised Mr Albanese for ‘living the values he preaches’ by slashing her rent by 25 per cent at the start of the Covid pandemic – and maintaining that reduced rate two years later.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk