Scarfies pay top dollar for flats

A great light has gone out. Dunedin's infamous "Pink Pussy", once second only to the Scarfies mansion in its dilapidated pink exterior and the wolf-whistling coming from the crumbling window frames, is now two-toned beige. It has a stove that works, a new toilet, carpet and 100 fewer beer bottles thrown into its various nooks and crannies.

Wednesday, February 2nd 2005, 11:38PM

by The Landlord

Workers will remove the egg baked on to windows after egg fights with neighbours, and the plastic chairs once sitting precariously on the tiny roof have gone. The controversial sign, "The Pink Pussy" - that numerous parents have choked over in the drive along Cumberland St - is on the back of a truck.

Rent at that beacon of student squalor was about $70 per week for each of the six bedrooms last year, new owner Noel Jenkins says. For that, students got proximity - in the heart of the so-called ghetto, about 100m from campus - and what? Independence? Knowing you could kick the door down if you forgot your key - which they did, it seems, judging by new wood over tell-tale holes at the bottom of the door?

"My wife almost had a heart attack when she first saw it," Jenkins says. "Actually, she wasn't allowed to see it at first. We've put in a new toilet - the other one was just gross, I don't think it had been cleaned for years. This house has a lot of tales."

Printable? "Ah, no."

This year, with significant changes, the house will rent out rooms for about $90 a week.

More than 20,000 students attend Otago University each year. To the general public, it is considered the "student city" - and the quintessential scarfie experience. The university markets itself on Dunedin's cheap living and accommodation.

But Dunedin's student "ghetto" has changed. Students can no longer hand-pick the creme de la creme of accommodation on the campus doorstep cheaply or easily.

As early as July or August, students flock to sign up 12-month fixed-term leases for flats that they are often only in for eight months. Rent can get up to more than $100 a room if you're close to the university - and a good flat is hard to find.

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