WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
A real estate agent has turned heads after claiming bad tenants were partly responsible for the rising rate of homelessness.
Ashleigh Goodchild, director of Perth-based Soco Realty, made the shocking statement as Australia is crippled by a housing crisis.
Long queues have become commonplace at rent inspections, with residents forced into a fierce bidding war for vacant rooms.
The families are among the growing number of Australians who have been forced to take drastic measures and live in caravans, tents or even in their cars.
Mission Australia recently claimed that more than 122,000 Australians are left homeless every night and that demand for its housing support services has increased by 26% since 2020.
Prospective tenants in Perth are sharing images and videos of long queues just to inspect the city’s few vacant properties as an agent took to social media to share ‘the other side’ of the crisis.
Ms Goodchild, whose business biography boasts of having ‘transitioned from reception to business ownership’, said there was another side to the homeless picture that the media had been missing.
“I know no one deserves to be homeless, I understand that, but there is one important fact, the absence of the media, that contributes to these people ending up homeless,” she said. in a TikTok video.
“And it’s that they did a bad thing on the part of the owners.
“The pool of tenants currently applying for properties in Perth’s residential market is well below standards.
“We are talking about tenants who did the wrong thing. They have ransacked properties, they lie about their application, they don’t pay rent and these are the people most at risk of becoming homeless.
Ms Goodchild posted the clip on TikTok after reading an article about homelessness.
“It got me excited this morning,” the title of the video reads.
Perth’s rental market is one of the tightest in the country, with potential tenants taking to social media to share images and videos of queues with up to 100 people waiting to inspect the few vacant properties from the city.
Last month, the rental vacancy rate in Perth – the percentage of all rental properties that are vacant or unoccupied – was 0.5 per cent.
Nationally, the rate is only 1.3 percent. The lower the rate, the more difficult it is to find accommodation.
Perth Constable Ashleigh Goodchild (pictured) has sensationally claimed that dishonesty and disorder are one of the main reasons why some people are at risk of becoming homeless
A mother-of-five has recently come under the spotlight after revealing she was forced to live with her family in a tent.
Ms Goodchild’s opinions received mixed responses, although many people working in property agreed with her.
‘OMG that! I work as a leasing agent and that’s exactly what I deal with on a daily basis!’ they say.
However, two mothers disagreed and strongly disagreed with Ms Goodchild’s claims bad tenants were partly to blame.
“You are wrong,” said a mother of six.
“There are so many dual income families, with A+ rental records (who) can’t get housing.”
Another Queensland woman, currently looking for accommodation, weighed in on the debate.
“Sorry but I’ve always paid my rent on time, I’ve never ransacked a house, but I have good references. I have a dog, 3 adults and 3 children and we still miss them,” a- she declared.
Ms Goodchild replied that if the woman was in Perth and could provide a rental register “and a copy of your last inspection report” she would have found her a property.
Last week, Ms Goodchild received praise for posting her own tearful reaction to evicting a woman whose home had been repossessed by its landlord.
“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” she said.
“I left her knowing that I had done the right thing for her, emotionally as much as I could,” Ms Goodchild added, describing the situation as a “little speed bump” in the tenant’s life.
A mother-of-five has recently come under the spotlight after revealing she was forced to live with her family in a tent.