$470 a week to live in what was once part of a now shut down pub
Wednesday, 13 March 2024
A Trade Me listing said the two-bedroom accommodation came with an air bed.
The building management was unaware of the listing.
The listing was ultimately taken down.
This is an unusual solution to Auckland’s housing issues.
For $470 a week, you could rent a 2-bedroom flat in what once was The Muddy Farmer in the heart of the city.
A listing for a 2 bedroom flat, including furniture, TV, a fridge, microwave, dryer and a “shared toilet”, in what was once part of the now shut down pub was recently listed on Trade Me.
The “comfortable” accommodation comes with an air bed.
The listing upset many people online who knew the pub for its genuine Irish memorabilia, heritage, and a popular movie shooting location.
But here’s the catch.
The building management was unaware of the listing.
Body corporate manager for the Heritage Hotel building, which houses the pub, Matt Whitfield said he was “shocked” to see the listing.
“This was not something that we were aware of…
“The retail unit [pub] was privately owned and.. not approved for residential accommodation and was not given the approval of the body corporate.
“The building management team are very surprised to hear of this listing on the internet and we will be liaising with the body corporate to take the appropriate action.
“The advertisement shows pictures of the Heritage Farmers Building and permission was not given for those misleading pictures to be used of the building.”
The listing said an extra $29 a week was required to cover standard power, water and rubbish collection.
It’s unclear if anyone took up the Trade Me offer, but the listing sparked a debate on social media with one Reddit users saying “Is the rental situation really this grim?”
“Suitable for busy working class’ aka anyone who wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouth,” another Reddit user said.
“Suddenly my stupidly high rent doesn't seem so awful. But it still is.”
“It’s heritage.”
Stuff spoke to Muddy Farmer’s owner Meisheng Zhu, also known as Max, who said he put up the Trade Me listing.
The accommodation rental was in an area previously subdivided from the pub, he claimed.
He refused to talk about the Trade Me accommodation listing, and later messaged that the listing was withdrawn.
The listing was taken down on Monday afternoon.
Trade Me said the listing was taken down by the member [person who posted the listing].
Trade Me policy and compliance manager James Ryan said rental listings needed to comply with the Residential Tenancies Act, House Improvement Regulations and the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act in order to be listed on Trade Me.
Ryan said based on the limited information provided about this rental [listing], “it’s unclear if this listing would meet the Healthy Homes Standards, especially since it was listed as a short term rental.
“If this was still listed on Trade Me, we would have reached out to the member to ensure the listing met our rules and requirements to stay on site.
The Muddy Farmer was a well-known Irish pub once named by an online hotel booking service as one of world’s top 10 places to celebrate St Patrick's Day.
A scene from the 2006 New Zealand film Sione's Wedding was shot in the pub.
Located on the corner of Wyndham and Hobson streets, the seven-storey building had the original Farmers department store in 1921.
The building was turned into a hotel in 1998.
CLARIFICATION: This story has been edited to clarify the area up for accommodation rental was once part of the pub, and is not part of the Muddy Farmer business.