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A 'hands on' tenant has cut a hole in the floor of his rented apartment to expand the property into two vacant neighbouring units, according to the shocked property manager.
The St Kilda tenant has given a new meaning to DIY when he decided to expand his property on level two into the level one unit below and then across to unit four.
According to Tara Hore, department manager of property management at Biggin&Scott Melbourne, the tenant had been a trouble-free client for over five years. That was until an open inspection of one of the neighbouring units on Saturday.
"We've never had any trouble with him before," she told Residential Property Manager yesterday.
According to Ms Hore, the tenant cut a 1-metre by 2-metre hole in the concrete floor of his apartment in order to gain access to the unit below. There, he demolished the kitchen to make way for a staircase to connect the apartments. But he didn't stop there: the tenant then knocked a hole through the double brick wall to unit four next door.
"When we entered unit four and saw the hole, we instantly contacted the landlord. He knew nothing about any renovations so I knew obviously something was very wrong," she explained.
"As soon as I accessed unit two, I contacted the police.
"Apparently the tenant had told his neighbours that he owned the units and was doing renovations, so they thought nothing of it when they heard machinery."
The 'renovations' have been going on for at least the last two months, said Ms Hore.
"Unit one downstairs has been vacant for the last six months as the owner is going through the process of getting it commercially leased so no-one has been in there since March of this year," she said.
"We've just currently started open for inspections on apartment four, so we've been in and out of there. The last hole would only be between five and seven days' old."
Luckily the landlord had insurance on the property.
"Yes, the landlord is covered," Ms Hore confirmed, "and I'd just like to say I have been incredibly lucky to have such a great landlord through what has been an absolutely bizarre series of events. We have been in hysterics together, it is just so unbelievable.
"It also helps that the landlord was not emotionally connected to the property."
According to Ms Hore, no charges have been laid yet as police are still conducting investigations. The landlord is also going through the process of evicting the tenant.
It is unknown if the tenant has any building experience; however, he was sighted by neighbours wearing safety goggles and a high visibility vest.
"At least we know he complied with OH&S," Ms Hore laughed.
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