An outspoken Perth property manager has revealed the “other side” of the State’s rental crisis, saying “bad tenants” are contributing to homelessness.
Ashleigh Goodchild, who works at SOCO Realty, blamed problem tenants for exacerbating the problem.
Speaking to PerthNow, she wanted to shine a light on “what the media isn’t talking about”, and give tenants tips on how to secure a rental property.
In a TikTok video earlier this month Ms Goodchild said: “I was reading The West Australian today with a big spread on homelessness… and I know there’s an increase in homelessness, however, the other side of the story is that the pool of tenants that are applying for properties are way below standard.
“We are talking tenants that have done the wrong thing — lied, trashed properties, don’t pay rent. These are people who are at more risk of homelessness.
“There’s a big factor that the media is missing that is contributing to people being homeless… that they have done the wrong thing by landlords, and that is one of the biggest reasons they can’t find a property.”
Ms Goodchild told PerthNow that she has had rental properties sitting vacant for weeks because she has not received any suitable applications.
“I’ve had some empty for over four weeks… owners aren’t desperate enough to put people in and take a risk.”
She also revealed that while many properties still get up to 30 applications, there are some that don’t attract any, saying it may be because people are too picky.
“There is a misconception… people in Perth are too exclusive with their suburbs… if they take a look nearby they might find something that no one has applied for,” she said.
“I get really frustrated when I read about homelessness and property managers are getting blamed… it annoys property managers get blamed for s**tty tenants and tenants doing wrong.”
On TikTok, others in the industry praised Ms Goodchild’s “unpopular opinion”.
“Thank you. As a fellow real estate agent in NSW I 100 per cent agree,” one person said.
“It’s so easy for the media to make us the villains,” another said.
But not everyone agreed.
One hopeful renter wrote: “We have tried on so many properties and no success. Four stable incomes, no pets, all parties from stable homes.”
“Sorry, but I have always paid rent on time and never trashed the house… good references… I have a dog… three adults and three kids and we still miss out,” said another.
But the grim reality is homelessness is much more complex than a rental application, and the issue is worsening in WA.
In mid-August, there were 1349 rough sleepers on the ‘By Name List’ — a homelessness database for WA.
And the numbers are growing at a worrying pace.
As revealed in The West Australian report Ms Goodchild was referring to, in the first six months of this year, WA recorded 555 newly identified rough sleepers, or those described as being in “chronic homelessness”.
That represented a nearly 50 per cent increase in the prior six months.
Adelaide is now the only capital city in Australia with a tighter rental market than Perth, with the city’s rate of vacant properties shrinking by 60 per cent since March 2020.
Data from PropTrack released last month put Perth’s vacancy rate in June at just 1.02 per cent.
Adelaide was the only city with fewer available rentals (0.94 per cent) than Perth, while Hobart (1.87 per cent), Sydney (1.73 per cent) and Darwin (1.63 per cent) reported the country’s highest vacancy rates.
June’s figures cap off an extraordinary run for Perth’s rental market, with the city’s vacancy rate dropping by 60 per cent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Goodchilds do’s and don’ts for rental applications
DO
- Fill out EVERY question, the more information the better
- Include up-to-date copies of ID
- Include a recent tenant ledger where possible
- Include rental references where possible
- Don’t be exclusive with suburbs, look in surrounding areas
- Honesty goes a long way
DON’T
- Some of these are pretty obvious but don’t lie on your application
- Don’t leave any questions unanswered
- Don’t forget to include references
- Don’t fill it out for someone else
Ms Goodchild said even without rental history, “honestly goes a long way”. She encouraged first-time renters to include as much information as possible and an explanation of why they don’t have a rental history.