‘Could hear my flatmate having sex’: Dunedin flat review site doing the rounds

If you’ve ever spent, or heard about, a winter in a North Dunedin flat, you’ll know the vibe is usually a mix of gloves, damp walls, and ‘feature walls’ of black mould. 

Well, Otago alumni Ryan Cole has decided it’s time to air out the dirty laundry. The software engineering grad has launched Flatchat, a review site where tenants can finally tell the truth about the flats of Dunedin. 

The site includes images of the flats, number of bedrooms, rent, ratings anf of course, the reviews. 

One tenant’s main gripe was a bit too close for comfort, noting: “I could hear my flatmate having sex, which was not good.” 

Another reviewer tried to find the silver lining in a house that felt like a “freezer”, mentioning that while noise control was a major issue, "the landlord has nice boots", and the place had "ample drinking space." 

Some were more honest than others: “The house is extremely old and falling apart, with a constantly breaking floor and a ceiling that looks like it might cave in at any moment.” 

And others were a bit more… straightforward: “Living in this flat was absolutely terrible.”

Ryan’s inspiration came from his own "fun and interesting" experiences flatting in the student capital. 

He’s managed to pull together pricing data on over 2,300 Dunedin properties and has racked up more than 2,500 tenant reviews dating all the way back to 2014.

The site combines user-generated information as well as public listings to make it all come to life for those considering their next rental property in the Dirty South. 

Next step? Let’s get one for each city - we all definitely could’ve dodged a bullet once or twice.