A Perth property manager has shared the heartbreaking moment she was forced to help a tenant move out of a property, amid the State’s continuing rental crisis.
Ashleigh Goodchild, who works at SOCO Realty, uploaded a video to TikTok earlier this month.
She explained she had the tricky job of evicting a tenant from a rental property, as the owner would have been left homeless if he didn’t get his house back.
“The owner needed to get possession of the property back, but it left the tenant in an unfortunate situation, it was tricky,” she told PerthNow.
The video begins with Ms Goodchild standing outside the rental property.
“I am at a property where we’re about to have the locks changed,” she said in the video.
“The tenant has defaulted. We have negotiated the best we can.
“So, I’m just waiting for the locksmith to get access and see what it’s like inside.”
Ms Goodchild said she didn’t know what to expect, but hoped the tenant had taken out all the furniture, as a cleaner had been organised.
The video then jumps to Ms Goodchild back at the office, where she holds back tears explaining what happened when she went inside.
She said the tenant was still at home.
“That was one of the hardest things that I think that I’ve ever had to do,” Ms Goodchild said.
“I sat with her for a while, I had a chat with her, and I just tried to make it feel a bit better about what was about to happen.
“And I helped her pack her stuff and after a couple of hours, I got her out of the property and on her way.
“It wasn’t nice, but that was just my job today, so I’ve done it.”
Ms Goodchild said the tenant was young, and believed that she would find her feet quickly, describing the eviction as a “little speed bump” in the renter’s life.
Many social media users sympathised with the tenant and real estate agent.
“Times are so tough. Many people are only one pay packet away from being homeless. Living from payday to payday. She will remember your kindness,” one person commented.
Some felt for the owner in the situation.
“I really feel for the owner, not the tenant who wouldn’t leave,” one commented.
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.