Perth real estate agent fires up over growing homelessness crisis
A Perth property manager has unleashed on “below standard” renters while firing up over the growing number of Aussies becoming homeless.
WA News
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The rental crisis in Perth has reached a fever pitch, but one property manager has claimed “below standard” tenants are partly to blame.
Perth property manager and owner of SOCO Realty Ashleigh Goodchild has taken to TikTok to share that she felt “fired up” after reading an article about the growing homelessness crisis in Western Australia.
Charity Mission Australia has revealed some stark statistics, sharing that over 122,000 Aussies are experiencing homelessness on any given night.
Plus, according to CoreLogic data, Perth deteriorated the most out of all states in housing affordability for lower-income households between March 2020 and March 2023.
This year, available rental properties in Perth also hit a 42-year low. There is less supply of housing than ever.
The answer to why Perth is struggling with homelessness might seem obvious, but Ms Goodwill explained that there’s another side to the “story” and shared the controversial reason she thinks some people end up on the street.
The property manager said that it came down to the “pool of tenants” and said that some that are applying for houses are “way below standard.”
“We are talking about tenants that have done the wrong thing. They have trashed properties, lie on their applications, and don’t pay rent,” she vented.
Ms Goodwill said those are the people that “are more at risk of being homeless.”
Ms Goodwill clarified that she doesn’t think that anyone “deserves” homelessness but felt that a poor rental history was a “big factor” the media were missing when reporting on increasing homelessness rates.
“They have done the wrong things by landlords. I have rental properties that have been sitting vacant for four weeks, and they are not overpriced,” she said.
She conceded that she does have properties that get “smashed” with inquires but also said she has “good” properties that get very “little inquiries” or “low quality applications” and therefore remain vacant.
Ms Goodwill said that she is really “bothered” that property managers get blamed for contributing to the homelessness crisis when often it is just “bad tenants doing wrong” and therefore unable to find suitable housing.
Interestingly plenty of people online agreed with Ms Goodwill’s opinion.
“Yep been saying the same for months,” someone commented.
“Could not agree more,” another praised.
“Yes!” Someone cheered.
“Thank you as a fellow real estate agent in NSW. I 100 per cent agree.” someone wrote.
Not everyone understood her point of view though.
“We have tried on soooo many properties and no success. We have 4 stable incomes, no pets, all parties from stable homes and currently renting. it’s hard.” one person wrote.
“Sorry but I have always paid rent on time never trashed a house yet good references I have a dog and 3 adults and 3 kids and we still miss out,” another complained.
Earlier this year, a TikTok creator posted a video highlighting how bad the rental crisis is in Perth. The creator filmed the chaos that descended on an open inspection for a three-bedroom house available to rent for $480 in Perth’s Dianella.
The video showed cars parked down the street and over fifty people turning up for a single inspection.
The creator shared they were surprised to see that people just kept “coming and coming” until potential tenants overran the street.
“Is it really this bad in Perth?” Someone commented.
“It 100 per cent is. I just drove past the same situation this morning at another rental viewing, and rental vacancies are at 0.3 per cent,” another replied
Originally published as Perth real estate agent fires up over growing homelessness crisis
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