Lawyer and housing advocate Jordan van den Lamb (aka purplepingers) is drawing attention to the obscene number of empty homes around Australia with the Empty Homes Crime Scene campaign.
In the midst of a national housing crisis, one would think they could look to their political leaders for action. But when sitting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese purchased his second house in October for over $4 million, and opposition leader Peter Dutton reportedly has amassed an extensive property portfolio, some of our most prominent politicians seemed more focused on their own luxurious housing than on providing the bare minimum for the rest of us. Enter, purplepingers.
“I regret that decision most days,” Jordan van den Lamb – AKA purplepingers – says when I ask him about the moniker. It’s a good-humoured response to a question that the housing advocate and senate candidate for the Victorian Socialists, who has around 300,000 followers (about twice that of Peter Dutton), is probably sick of hearing.
Empty Homes Crime Scene Campaign and purplepingers
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When I ask him about his work with the Empty Homes Crime Scene campaign though, his response is imbedded with serious passion. “I think everyone knows that our government will never do anything about our housing crisis because it is simply a symptom of capitalism,” he says. “Until we destroy capitalism, we will always be impacted by the various crises it produces.”
What began a few years ago as a vehicle to mock real estate agents and landlords for dodgy rentals, Jordan and his purplepingers social media accounts have since transformed into a prolific voice on the country’s housing crisis.
Now, Jordan is extending his advocacy further by heading up the Empty Homes Crime Scene campaign. Drawing attention to the inconceivable number of homes sitting empty around the country – all while hundreds of thousands live without one or in an unliveable one – the campaign takes a specific focus on the crisis in Naarm.
The power of collective action
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At its core, this is a campaign that builds on people power by placing control in the hands of the people. “I think people are drawn to the power of collective action and the embarrassment and shame it causes the people in power,” Jordan says.
According to a July 2024 Prosper Australia report, there was an estimated almost 100,000 vacant homes in Melbourne in 2023, based on analysis on properties’ water meter data. As Jordan points out, “[That’s] enough to house more than 250,000 people. That’s many more than are currently homeless or languishing on the public housing waiting list.”
The Empty Homes Crime Scene campaign is a symbolic signal to the crisis at hand. Additionally, it’s a way of actively encouraging more people to consider squatting. To alert people to the nature of these vacant properties, the campaign has been tagging empty homes – after they’ve been empty for an extended period of time – with the Empty Homes Crime Scene stickers.
“I want people to be confronted by the amount of empties in their neighbourhoods,” Jordan says. “This has been such an invisible problem for so long, and it’s time we did something about it. I’m also hoping to draw attention to these empties for people who need them. If they see a sticker on one, I want them to take the sticker off and move in.”
Empty homes full of possibility
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The sticker in question is one you can’t miss. It’s a bright yellow badge of shame. The kind of shame, Jordan emphasises, that should lay with our politicians, not people who are homeless. Talking to the neighbours of homes Jordan has been plastering stickers onto, Jordan says that “regardless of the demographics of the neighbour, they all agree that homes shouldn’t be left empty.”
“I feel like the public opinion is already on our side (unless you are a landlord, of course),” he continues. “All we need to do is wait until the government is embarrassed enough to actually do something.”
The idea of marking empty houses isn’t a new one. Jordan highlights that people have practised “marking empties” since at least 1979. When 12.7 per cent of all properties in Brunswick East sat vacant in 2023 (the suburb with the highest concentration of empty homes in Naarm), he argues that the practice continues to remain as necessary as ever.
The Victorian Socialists – who Jordan/purplepingers is running as a senate candidate for – produce the stickers and lead the campaign. Jordan, however, flags that the stickers carry no VicSoc branding, ensuring anyone can participate if they choose.
Turning a crisis into an opportunity
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For the short term, this is a campaign about awareness and action. Beyond the symbolism of the stickers, Jordan says that “I know some people are now living in houses we have stickered,” taking up their legal right to squat. For the long term? “I want legislative change,” he says.
“These properties are obviously empty because it’s more profitable to leave them empty. They increase in value a ridiculous amount regardless of the state of disrepair. I’d love to see either the law changed so that people can claim adverse possession after one year, or alternatively get taxed so hard that it’s no longer profitable to keep homes empty.”
The gaping distance between the short term and long-term goals of the Empty Homes Crime Scene campaign is no small one. But Jordan clearly understands how to cover that distance. “We have to keep talking about it and keep doing it,” he says. “We have to make it as accessible as possible for people to participate in.”
“I’d like to remind people that good people break bad laws,” he adds. “Civil disobedience is part of our culture, and if our ruling class is actively working to oppress us, then we need to start thinking about resisting the tools they use to do so. Also, I’d like to remind everyone that squatting is legal.”
With plans to expand the campaign beyond Naarm, Jordan offers a few dates and suburbs that a group stickering is planning on taking place. He also suggests that anyone interested in getting involved can find a PDF of the sticker at pingers4parliament.com. “And if you want to create your own, you are very much welcome to do so.”
You can follow Jordan and keep up with the Empty Homes Crime Scene campaign here.