That’s us! We’re Local.

A Melbourne-born business who creates and manages apartments just for rent.

We believe everyone has the right to live and belong in the places they want, for as long as they like. 

What we’re really saying is: 

• Climate-friendly buildings, designed to provide sustainable living now and long into the future

• Top notch amenities (we’re talking pools and private dining rooms) that are all yours to enjoy

• Well-connected locations in already thriving neighbourhoods 

With that in our sights, we’re excited to make living like a Local (see what we did there?) possible for everyone.

The short answer is ‘renting but way better’.

From mild annoyances to complete nightmares, we’re on a mission to make renting a pleasure, not a chore.

So, what does that mean exactly?

• No more third-party real estate agents. You’re dealing direct with us. 

• An on-site concierge team to wave good morning, hook you up with local services, and help dissect last night’s car wreck of a MAFS episode (If you want, I mean, we know you do…)

• Pets are (very) allowed. We love pets. More info on this here

• Stuff will get fixed, and quickly. Maintenance requests will be directly reportable by you through our Local app and their progress/resolution is completely trackable. What a time to be alive.

• Your lease, your terms. We’re not going to kick you out or sell your home on you, hike up the rent, or demand an inspection at a moment’s notice. That gives you one thing you’re likely not getting from your current rental - security.

• Be a social butterfly. Be a hermit. Living with Local means engaging with your community as much, or as little, as you like.

Build to Rent also means that we don’t build to sell. We build to own. So, because it’s us who’s responsible for managing and maintaining our buildings, we build them well. 

We’re in this for the long haul, so you can be too.

A 40-level tower with 406 apartments including studio, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom options.

A new apartment, including whitegoods (how good is not having to move your fridge!), access to all amenities, secure postal and parcel lockers, bike storage and concierge services during extended business hours. 

If you need it, fully furnished apartments, additional storage, and car spaces are available in addition to your base rent.

We’ll also be able to help you set up green utilities, contents insurance and jump on a speedy connection to the world wide web.

We’re committed to creating positive social change in the areas we operate. And to do that, we need to ensure our communities are inclusive and accessible.

Local will work directly with registered housing providers to supply 41 apartments at Local South Melbourne to women over 55 and at risk of homelessness, key workers who are essential to our communities, who don’t currently have suitable homes to live in.

Everything we build, inside and out, is designed with the climate in mind. South Melbourne is fully electric and net zero carbon in operations. So, big on renewables and low on waste.

We don’t see this as a box ticking exercise to meet ‘minimum requirements’. This is a real passion of ours, and if you’d like to know any specifics, we’d be happy to catch up and chat about it over a cuppa.

They are awesome, obviously. Your bestie is totally welcome, all we need is their details and a signed Leash Agreement… (You can thank our punny teammate Pete for that gem) before they move in.

We have one retail space going in on ground level within the main lobby. We’re thinking a wine bar, but if you have another idea or if you’re interested in leasing the space, let us know!

Spring 2025. We know, the wait is killing us too! But we’ll be ready and raring to chat about living at Local South Melbourne well before then. The best way to stay in the loop is to join our mailing list here.

Our builders are on site between 7am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 9am and 3pm on Saturday. If we need to do any work outside these hours, we’ll only do so with a council permit.

You, hopefully! 

We’re an inclusive bunch so we’re expecting a range of backgrounds, professions, and life stages. And pets. Pets are very allowed (did we already mention that?)

We’re still crunching the numbers, so we can let you know what rents will be in mid 2025. If you’re keen to hear more about rents, let us know here and we’ll tell you as soon as the numbers are sufficiently crunched.

You can’t. It’s not you, it’s us. We don’t build our apartments to sell them off. Our goal is to create long-term, sustainable, attainable, housing that positively impacts the community. There’s no guarantee what would happen to our project if we sold it… what if it was purchased by The Block? Imagine the drama! We’ll always own 100% of our buildings so we can look after them and you can live comfortably knowing we’re not going to sell up and kick you out.

We’d love to answer them, pop your questions in the enquiry form and we’ll get in touch.

If you’d like to be on the list to be the first to know about available apartments at Local South Melbourne, pop your details here and select what you’d like to hear about.