Anthony Albanese responds after tenant revealed he was being evicted from the PM’s Dulwich Hill home

Anthony Albanese has hit back at his Sydney tenant who begged the Prime Minister not to make him homeless after serving him with an eviction notice. 

Jim Flanagan, 45, has lived in one of Mr Albanese’s investment properties in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Dulwich Hill for four years.

But the struggling bar owner has now been given 90 days to pack up and leave because the Prime Minister wants to sell the three-bedroom townhouse.

Mr Flanagan went public with his eviction notice on Wednesday, describing it as a ‘crippling blow’. 

This is despite Mr Albanese reducing the rent during the pandemic for Mr Flanagan and his then partner to $680 a week – and not raising it since. The market rate for a three-bedroom property in the area is currently around $800 a week.

Now the Prime Minister has slapped down Mr Flanagan’s plea, claiming that he has been a ‘more than fair owner’. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon are pictured at Parliament House in Canberra

‘The person who’s in the property, in his own words, I have been a more than fair owner of that property,’ Mr Albanese told ABC Radio National host Patricia Karvelas.

The Prime Minister said that was ‘entitled’ to sell the property because of his upcoming wedding to partner Jodie Haydon. 

Mr Albanese was asked if he would consider allowing Mr Flanagan to stay in the property a little longer.

But he claimed the bar owner has refused to engage with the rental agent. 

‘Well, he’s refused to have discussions with the real estate agent,’ Mr Albanese claimed.

‘That’s a matter for him. I wish him well. He has been well looked after for a long period of time.’

‘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.’

‘The property was bought when my personal circumstances were different.’

Mr Flanagan has been given 90 days to vacate the Dulwich Hill property (pictured)

The Prime Minister’s property portfolio has previously been estimated to be worth about $5million, although he sold a two-bedroom unit in Canberra in 2022. 

Mr Albanese famously grew up in public housing in Sydney, but now owns a mortgage-free bungalow in Marrickville and the three-bedroom Dulwich Hill townhouse he now plans to sell. 

The Prime Minister splits his time between The Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney, rent and mortgage-free. 

Mr Flanagan was reluctant to go public about his situation but felt he had no other choice. 

‘This will kill me, it’s a crippling blow right now,’ he told the the Daily Telegraph.

A shocked 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.

Anthony Albanese also owns this Marrickville home (pictured), which is also being currently rented out

Mr Flanagan then asked for clarification on whether it was the landlord’s desire he vacate the property, which the agent confirmed.

The small business owner is on a month-to-month lease and knows the Prime Minister has the right to sell the house.

But Mr Flanagan has been spurred into trying to stay on after reading about the government’s $1.9billion package to slash rental costs for vulnerable people announced in Tuesday’s 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.