Vacant homeowners warned to lock up as housing crisis worsens

Inner city real estate agents are warning owners of vacant properties to leave the lights on at night to deter a new class of illegal tenants who aren’t partying but simply can’t afford a roof over their heads.

Owners of vacant properties have been warned to lock windows and doors amid an increase in squatting by people desperate for a roof over their head as the housing shortage worsens.

The squatters are not drug users or those wanting a free party pad. They’re just families needing somewhere to sleep.

One Sydney real estate agent who has been ordering his clients to lock windows and doors of their vacant properties said there had been a surge in illegal “tenants” who were “moving in” to unoccupied homes.

As both federal and state governments grapple with how to fix the severe housing shortage, the agent — who requested not to be identified — has been advising his clients to organise to have the lights kept switched on at night and to lock windows and doors to deter break-ins.

He said it was clear the people illegally entering the properties were seeking shelter rather than to use drugs or party, with many appeared to be staying over several nights.

Property manager Sophie Herdegen is witnessing the housing crisis worsen as competition for rental accommodation becomes extreme. Picture: Richard Dobson

“A lot of the properties are vacant because they are being sold or redeveloped. It’s definitely been more frequent in the last six months,” he said.

“I think part of the problem is that a lot of older stock is being redeveloped into, say, luxury apartments. You’ll have an old house in Summer Hill that had about five rooms leased out, and has been sold and is now owner-occupied.

“And in more touristy areas, you have Airbnb taking up stock.

“I’ve told my clients to turn the lights on so it looks as if there are people living there. The people that stay, it’s only ever for a couple of nights. Maybe they don’t have a car or just are short of short-term accommodation.”

One of those clients — a Sydney property developer — said he was told to improve the locks on his windows and doors.

“I was told there was an entire family living in one of my properties,” he said.

Among communities most affected by the lack of affordable housing are people from non-English-speaking backgrounds and newly arrived refugees.

SydWest Multicultural Services — an organisation that specialises in settlement services — recently lodged a submission to a Senate inquiry into poverty in Australia, which noted how difficult it was for families renting.

Young tenants protested against rent increases in Sydney last month. Picture: Getty

“We estimate some two-thirds of our clients spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent,” it said.

“We also have examples of households having less than $250 available each week after paying rent.

In its submission, the Tenants’ Union NSW declared up to 30 per cent of housing relocations were “involuntary”, that is they involved “an eviction or forced move”.

“Many low income renting households are not able to raise the relatively large sum of money required to secure alternative housing and move at short notice,” the union said.

“For these households, the risk of homelessness increases.”

Inner west sales agent Adrian Tsavalas said vacant properties awaiting redevelopment in the region often needed to be “secured” because of the threat of squatters, among other things.

Many of these properties were too derelict to be rented out and were left untended while the owners awaited development approval from council, he said.

Sophie Herdegen, senior property manager at inner west real estate agency Adrian William, said competition for rental properties was extreme.

She noted that it took just eight days until the average rental was snapped up in the area — half the time it took last year.

Foot traffic at inspections was double what it was last year and some properties were attracting as many as 30 tenant applications.

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Originally published as Vacant homeowners warned to lock up as housing crisis worsens