Melbourne Landlord Gives Renter Home After 23 Years

After 23 years of paying rent on a cozy two-bedroom unit in St. Albans, Jane Sayner got a phone call that changed everything.

Her landlord, John Perrett, had his solicitor on the line. He was leaving her the home.

"I pinch myself to this day," Sayner told 9 News, more than six years after that unforgettable conversation. She'd moved into the Melbourne suburb property in the late 1990s, drawn to its garden and friendly owner.

Perrett was no ordinary landlord. The self-made millionaire had built his fortune from the ground up while working as a pharmacist and investing in property. But wealth didn't change his generous spirit.

He treated Sayner like family, not just a tenant paying monthly checks. When he began planning his estate in his final years, he knew exactly what to do with the St. Albans unit.

Perrett died in 2020 at 85 from complications related to Parkinson's disease. His generosity extended far beyond Sayner's doorstep.

Sunny's Take

The same man who gave his tenant a home also donated his entire $19.6 million fortune to Royal Melbourne Hospital. Three decades earlier, the hospital had given him a kidney transplant that extended his life for 30 years.

"We are extremely grateful for such a bequest. It's just amazing," said Professor Nigel Toussiant from the hospital. The donation will support patients and operations for decades.

Sayner retired at 74 and still lives in the home Perrett gave her. She thinks of him often, whispering thanks to the man who saw their landlord-tenant relationship as something more meaningful.

His story proves that wealth matters less than what you choose to do with it. Perrett could have sold the property or added it to his hospital donation, but he recognized Sayner's 23 years of care for the home deserved recognition.

Now she owns the place she's called home for nearly a quarter century, complete with the garden that first caught her eye all those years ago.