A nationwide shortage of burial plots has sparked a surprising new side hustle, with some savvy sellers set to earn more than $160,000.
Premium cemetery plots are being listed for sale on Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace, with a prime spot at Sydney’s Waverley Cemetery available for an astonishing $165,000.
A plot at Melbourne General Cemetery can be purchased for $95,000, while in Queensland, a plot at Allambe Gardens is listed for $25,000.
While the average plot costs about $10,000, prices have surged by 30 per cent in the past ten years, according to NSW-based funeral company Funera.
The $165,000 grave at Waverley Cemetery is being managed by Belle Property real estate agent Mark Gilden. He is selling it on behalf of family friends who reside far from the heritage-listed cemetery and have plots in another area.
‘I’ve had some inquiry, some to and fro with a few people (but) no one’s made a firm offer yet,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
‘There’s this significant shortage and that’s the intriguing part, as many residents in Sydney may need to travel even further to visit or bury a loved one,’ he stated.
The Waverley plot is marketed as ‘an extraordinary opportunity to obtain a rare vacant double-size plot in one of Sydney’s most iconic and desirable final resting places’.
This double grave burial plot at Waverley Cemetery is being advertised for $165,000
The plot has ‘ocean-facing with sweeping views’ and accommodates for seven sets of ashes
The double plot offers perpetual interment rights, eliminating renewal fees and showcasing an original historic sandstone border with intricate plinths.
It has space for four caskets, nine cremation urns, and seven sets of ashes.
Despite being a resting place for the dead, the Facebook listing still notes that the plot is ‘ocean-facing with sweeping views’.
To privately sell the interment rights to a plot, a seller only needs to complete, lodge and have an application approved by the cemetery.
Demand for gravesites is only expected to increase, with public cemeteries in New South Wales likely to run out of faith-based plots by 2026.
Gravesites aren’t the only thing for sale, with entire family crypts also up for grabs as well as plots already fitted with unmarked headstones.
More than 100,000 people are buried in Waverley Cemetery, including notable Australians like Henry Lawson, Victor Trumper and Dorothea Mackellar.
A representative for the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure mentioned that in NSW, individuals can acquire an interment right, granting the legal entitlement to bury remains at a specified site.
Photos of burial plots are being advertised to buy all over Australia, with Waverley Cemetery (pictured) one of the most sought-after locations
‘These rights can be perpetual or renewable, and may be transferred or bequeathed,’ a spokesperson said.
Under the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2013, people are restricted to having a maximum of two interment rights.
Daily Mail has contacted the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure and Mr Gilden for further comment.
