Introducing the first of several challenging sets of images as a part of Rent Week 2022. 

Any renter will know that when you move into a new place, there are some design choices that are simply beyond your control. You can light a candle, brace yourself with 3M hooks and say a prayer to the Patron Saint of Wear and Tear, but no amount of artistic flair and personalisation can change the fact that the person who actually owns your house choose to etch LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE into the glittering asbestos of your living room ceiling.

Auckland designer Richard Parry has long been cataloguing such curiosities on his Instagram page in a long-running segment called Crap Rentals. As a part of Rent Week, Parry has given The Spinoff the keys to his illustrious archive of shocking, uneasy, hilarious and ridiculous rental properties advertised across Aotearoa. Today, we launch with the 10 most bizarre and challenging pieces of art that the rental market has ever seen.

10) Undersea loo

Kelly Tarlton’s found jealous.

9) Hang it in the Louvre

Down the back, with the ties, still the Louvre.

8) Out of this universe

“I rent at the edge of the universe, like everybody else.”

7) Suit up

I think we can all agree: Suits Be Cheap.

6) Pollock bathroom

This bathroom is worth $350 million. (No running water.)

5) Romantic boudoir

The actual room where Savage Garden wrote their hit single ‘To the Moon and Bac’.

4) Beached As bedroom

Timeless.

3) Fruit kitchen

How much would you pay to live in the original Food in a Minute set?

2) Bone lounge

Call the police.

1) Gloriavale kitchen

Call. The. Police.

Rent Week 2022 runs from September 27 to October 2. Read the best of our renting coverage here.