News

The winners of OUSA's Next Top Flat Competition were announced last week, with two flats receiving prizes for finishing first in their respective categories.

The title of Best Flat went to 'The Picnic Table' on Albany Street, with the inhabitants taking home $150 worth of grocery vouchers. Worst Flat was awarded to the 'Bonnie Doon' on Union Street, which will now receive a (much needed) five-hour professional flat clean courtesy of OUSA. 
   Altogether there were 14 entrants into the Best Flat category and six flats competing in the Worst Flat category. These were narrowed down to a short-list and then individually inspected by the judging panel, which included OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan, Accommodation Office manager Adele Evans, and Local Council Body candidates Jinty MacTavish and Jono Clark.
   OUSA Welfare Officer Clare Jackson said the purpose of the competition (previously known as OUSA House and Garden Landlord of the Year Contest) is to highlight the generally sub-standard living conditions of student flats. Jackson told Critic that with rising rent prices, and the Local Body elections pending, it is that important people are aware of the state of many student flats, which generally would be classed as uninhabitable if situated in other suburbs. For example the tenants of the 'Bonnie Doon' had a backyard that resembled a landfill, damp and sticky carpet in the lounge, and a drain that overflowed when the toilet was flushed. 
   A notable entry to the Worst Flat category was 17 Ethel Benjamin Place, which will likely be removed from the Accommodation Office flatting list due to its terrible condition. Apparently the flat’s landlords have converted one of the bedrooms into two by sticking a piece of wood into the centre of the floor and the lounge door is so small and stiff that furniture had to be brought in through the window. Jackson expressed dismay that students would be willing to pay $110 per room for a flat in such a state; however it was ultimately pipped for the title of worst flat by the rodent-infested ‘Bonnie Doon’.
   On a brighter note the sunny Best Flat winner, 'The Picnic Table', boasted 13 couches, four of which had been converted into a lounge grandstand, and a vegetable garden. Flash.