Purplepingers defends vacant house list after woman’s home broken into

A woman revealed her late father’s home was broken into after the address was shared by a renter’s advocate and socialist politician.

A renter’s advocate and socialist politician has defended his practice of posting the addresses of vacant homes online after a woman revealed her late dad’s home was broken into.

Melbourne woman Carol told the ABC locks were changed and some of her father’s possessions were taken after the location of the house she inherited from him was shared by Victorian senate candidate Jordan van den Lamb.

Mr van den Lamb, known as Purplepingers, has made a name for himself as a fierce critic of the real estate industry and has advocated for people to squat in empty homes.

Appearing on Channel 10’s The Project on Wednesday, Mr van den Lamb said he felt “very sorry that (Carol’s) belongings were taken”.

“But I also think about the fact that every four days a young person experiencing homelessness dies in this country even though there are hundreds of thousands of homes available to them,” he said.

“And they die because they don’t have access to housing, and our government sits there doing nothing about it.”

Carol told the ABC she inherited the home in 2007 and had spent four years renovating it before her “circumstances changed”. She was caring for her dying mother and stopped regularly checking on the home.

She went to check on the property late last year and realised her key did not work, and noticed changes had been made including a new blind and security camera.

Jordan van den Lamb. Picture: Channel 10

There was also a new bed and fridge inside, although it did not appear someone was sleeping in the property, she said.

“It made me feel very unsafe, even in my home, and scared of what might happen,” she said.

“That it might happen again, that they might come back.”

Carol said she did not believe it was a coincidence that the break-in happened after the address was shared by Mr van den Lamb.

The Victorian Socialists candidate has created a database of vacant homes he shares with people who reach out in need of shelter. He does not advocate for anyone to damage or steal from the properties.

Mr van den Lamb said the addresses he posted publicly were “generally the ones I personally would think no one would live in, because I probably wouldn’t live there”.

He said Carol’s address was submitted to him by a neighbour who claimed the property had not been lived in for more than a decade. He said he did not know what happened after he shared its location.

“Obviously I can’t visit every single house, which is unfortunate,” he told The Project.

Jordan van den Lamb on The Project. Picture: Channel 10

“I’m just one person and I’m doing this because I see that there are hundreds of thousands of empty homes in this country.

“And there are far fewer people than that sleeping rough, dying on the street, because they don’t have access to housing.

“And I’m just literally here trying to make sure people have things that they need because I care about them.”

The incident caught the attention of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who labelled it as “outrageous” and called Mr van den Lamb a “disgrace”.

“It’s quite clearly just reprehensible, self-indulgent behaviour,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr van den Lamb hit back on X, writing: “If it helps, I think @AlboMP is a disgrace”.

Carol said she empathised with people who were homeless but added she was “not rich”, and that her demographic was seeing high rates of homelessness.

Mr van den Lamb told The Project that said having heard Carol’s story he would “have a think about” posting the address again.

“But if we look to the facts … it’s a house that was empty for 17 years and Carol had safe housing,” he said.

“It’s a tough one.”

He said there were “better ways” to fix the housing crisis, such as government intervention, but added “I’m just trying to help people who are desperate and need houses”.

Originally published as Purplepingers defends vacant house list after woman’s home broken into