‘Not the main problem': Unexpected response to the ‘Robin Hood of renters'

News.com.au

13 hours ago

Few figures are more synonymous with Australia's ongoing housing crisis – or more polarising – than Jordan van der Lamb.
A fierce critic of the real estate industry, the so-called 'Robin Hood of renters' and socialist politician has attracted a hundreds-of-thousands-strong audience across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok under the moniker PurplePingers.
Unlike the heroic outlaw after whom he's been nicknamed, Mr van der Lamb does not advocate for anyone to steal from the rich. He does, however, encourage those in need of shelter to squat in their 'vacant' properties. He has created an entire database of such homes across the country.
'Are you sick of rich people hoarding empty houses during a housing crisis? Because I am. Here's what you can do about it,' he told his followers in a video this week, before taking them on a tour of a seemingly-abandoned property in Melbourne's Chadstone.
'Fun fact: squatting in Australia is not necessarily illegal – which is the best type of illegal. Especially if the front door doesn't actually lock. So yeah, here's a free house if you want it … Homes are for people to live in, not for rich people to make money off.'
Mr van der Lamb's methods have, unsurprisingly, proven controversial – drawing sharp criticism from social media users and those in the real estate industry to Anthony Albanese.
Yet his relentless coverage of the current state of our property market cannot be ignored.
'Australia is experiencing more than a housing crisis; we are in the grips of a housing disaster,' acting executive director of independent think tank Per Capita, Sarah McKenzie, told news.com.au.
'In 2024, demand for new dwellings outpaced supply by 68,000 compounding a severe supply shortfall that has been building for years. Severe rental stress is at a decade high, public housing waitlists are near breaking point, and homelessness services are overwhelmed.'
'They're not the main problem'
'In that context, it's no surprise that people are frustrated,' Ms McKenzie said.
A Prosper Australia report released last July and frequently cited by Mr van den Lamb showed that Melbourne has close to 100,000 vacant homes – more than enough to, hypothetically, shelter the 30,000 Victorians experiencing homelessness (per the latest census).
'Jordan van der Lamb's tactics aren't the solution, but they're not the main problem either,' Ms McKenzie said.
'They reflect a growing anger at a housing system that leaves homes empty while people sleep on the streets. At CEH we don't endorse squatting or public shaming of property owners, but nor should the national debate be sidetracked by it.'
Earlier this year, the consequences of Mr van den Lamb's activism were laid bare – and ignited the fury of the Prime Minister – when a Melbourne woman arrived at her vacant investment property to find security cameras installed, the locks changed, squatters inside and the home's address online.
The woman, who inherited the home from her late father, also discovered that most of his possessions were missing. She went on to tell the ABC she did not believe it was a coincidence that the break-in happened after the address was shared on social media.
Mr van den Lamb confirmed he had posted the home's address but noted it was unclear if the squatters had moved in prior to him doing so, telling The Project the home 'was empty for 17 years'.
Though he felt 'very sorry that (her) belongings were taken … 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', Mr van den Lamb said.
'They might be good for clickbait, but they won't help'
Like Ms McKenzie, Macquarie Law School Professor and Executive Member of Smart Green Cities, Cathy Sherry, said 'the younger generation has every right to be very angry about the mess that older Australians have created in our housing market'.
'It is the result of muddled thinking that has encouraged everyone to view residential property as an asset class to build wealth, as opposed to a basic human necessity,' Professor Sherry, a leading international expert in land law, told news.com.au.
'If that basic necessity is not met – or if people have to spend too much time and money securing it – they cannot contribute fully to society. That is harming us all.'
Yet Mr van den Lamb's ideas are neither 'realistic or practical', she said.
'They might be good for clickbait, but they won't help young people,' Professor Sherry, a leading international expert in land law, said.
'The answer is not for people to squat, as that means they have none of the protections that apply to residential tenants.
'He runs the risk of encouraging people to do things that might make them civilly or even criminally liable.'
Jacob Caine is the interim CEO of the peak professional association for the Victorian real estate industry, Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV).
'(We) remain acutely aware of the significant impacts that the state's ongoing housing and rental market crisis is having on Victorians, and the urgent need to address it,' Mr Caine told news.com.au.
'But we strongly reject any attempts, including by Mr van den Lamb, to encourage squatting as a means of achieving this. This is a highly dangerous practice, that risks the safety of all involved.
'It is completely at odds with Victoria's high-functioning real estate sector and the fundamental rights of home ownership that have long been a hallmark of Australian society.'
Mr van den Lamb's rhetoric 'also plays to a false and inflammatory narrative around all rental providers being rich', Mr Caine noted, 'a perception which ignores the fact that almost nine-in-ten rental providers are private investors, with the majority owning just one rental property'.
'We need to be a bit more grown up'
The 'answer' is not in headline-grabbing antics, Prof Sherry argued, but in fixing the tax policies that have 'encouraged older people to buy residential property as an investment'.
'Just as we would not allow some people to stockpile food when other people are hungry, we should not allow some people to stockpile homes when other people are homeless or experiencing housing stress,' she said.
Owners who don't intend to use the property themselves, renovate or sell it in the near future – and are instead 'land banking for an extended period or allowing their property to fall into serious disrepair … should be penalised by the tax system'.
That Australia doesn't already do so, Prof Sherry said, is 'exceptionally dumb tax policy that is shooting the nation in the foot'.
'Tax policy is not as interesting as squatting, but if we want real solutions, we need to be a bit more grown up about the issue.'
At the end of the day, 'governments, not individuals, are responsible for the state of housing in this country', Ms McKenzie said.
'We have a housing system that fails to deliver enough homes, especially for those on low incomes,' she said.
Though the Federal Government's $43 billion Homes for Australia plan is a 'good start', structural factors like skilled worker shortages, low construction productivity, outdated planning rules and 'tax settings that make it easier to profit from housing than to build it' hold it back.
'Housing isn't just where we live – it's the foundation of health, safety, and opportunity,' Ms McKenzie said.
'We won't solve this crisis through distraction or division. We'll solve it by building more homes, and ensuring those homes are delivered at a price people can actually afford.'