Jordan is going after Australia’s empty houses. His method is getting him death threats
Rental advocate and law graduate Jordan van den Berg is setting people in Australia up with empty properties to squat in.

Jordan van den Berg knows it's definitely not the antidote to the housing crisis, he does not encourage breaking and entering and believes bigger changes must be made to make housing more affordable.

But is he encouraging squatting and setting up a database to help people connect with houses that appear empty and unused? Yes, he is.

"It's hard to see all the abandoned homes when there are tent cities appearing nearby", he says.

Many housing solutions take years to build, van den Berg adds, but the problem is now. "People are struggling now. People need housing now."

You might know Jordan as Purple Pingers, the man behind 'poo rental' videos and his website where punters can review rentals, agencies and real estate agents.

With his unenthused, exasperated voice, he's built a TikTok audience of 150,000 followers while advocating for renters and reporting on the dire aspects of Australia's rental market over the past three years.

Exposing unresponsive real estate agents, fact-checking misleading rental listings and sharing the bad shape of some properties has been a way for him and his followers to feel like they're gaining some power back, he says.

Last week, he decided to take it a step further.

He asked his followers to submit addresses of empty properties they've spotted which he can pass on to someone who needs it.

"If the government won't do anything about the rich hoarding empty homes, make them," he said in a TikTok video where he is standing in an empty house.

In a matter of days, he's had 409 property submissions — most are which are Australian properties, but there are US addresses in the mix too.

"It's unjust to have people sleeping on the street when we have multimillion-dollar homes lying around vacant," he told The Feed.

The houses are located around population centres, usually in capital cities, and about 60 per cent are in Melbourne, Australia's second-largest capital city.

The selection and state of the houses are mixed, but many of the properties are worth upward of $1 million, based on Domain sales Jordan has found online, he says. Some are even worth as much as $4 or $5 million.

Since starting the database, which he keeps private, Jordan has started matching people with empty houses close by. He's done this now a few times.

Jordan says he avoids prying about people's living situations but says some have shared that they are living in insecure or unsafe housing. One person who has been "matched" with an empty house had been living in their car.

The encouragement to squat has not been without extensive pushback with some people even sending Jordan violent messages and death threats.

"It's the owner's house, that means he owns it. That means he can do whatever he wants with it," one person said in a comment under his video.

Jordan concedes, "whether or not that's the right thing to do is up for debate," but the law graduate reminds his audience that squatting may not be illegal in Australia.

"Squatting is quite clearly not the ideal solution to our housing crisis in Australia, but it obviously makes rich people angry and when rich people are angry, often something gets done," he said.

"Being homeless is incredibly risky. I think you've got to pick your battles."