A tenant’s good deed in renting out a tent in his backyard for $125 a week has come under fire as people accused him of ‘shameful’ behaviour in wanting to make money from homeless people – but he says he’s just ‘doing his bit’ during a housing crisis.
Mark decided to rent out the tent at his home in Hobart, Tasmania to help a struggling Aussie, with his friend Helen Quinn posting the ad to Facebook on Saturday.
The tent was set up for a single person and included all bills, except for food, with the ad stating: ‘Emergency accommodation for a single person.’
But the backlash to the ad was immediate, with some saying they would rather sleep rough than in his backyard.
‘I’d rather be set up under the overpass along the highway than pay some f***wit $125 for the pleasure of their freezing backyard,’ one wrote.
‘Shameful. I know of someone who was trying to charge a pet sitter to look after their pet. This is much worse than that,’ one said.
Another added: ‘You can’t seriously be charging a homeless person $125 a week to sleep in a tent – surely I must have read this wrong.’
But Mark defended his actions, saying he is also a renter and has opened up his home and backyard to struggling families and individuals over the years.
The ad for the $125-a-week tent rental in a Tasmanian man’s backyard (pictured) came under fire, but the man defended his actions – saying he wanted to help someone who was struggling
The rental crisis has hit Tasmania hard with tenants now paying an extra $7,000 annually in rent than they were five years ago (pictured, tenants lining up to look at a property)
The Tasmanian, who receives the disability pension, said he currently has seven people living in his rental and says he offers help to people who can’t afford a place on their own, the Mercury reported.
Mark pays $450 a week for his suburban Risdon Vale home and leases out a refurbished tin shed on the premises, as well as rooms in his house.
He also has a lady renting a caravan who used to live outside a Kmart and slept on concrete before she moved in.
‘Many times I’ve supported people totally who have no finances at all,’ he said.
‘One guy was here for two years and wasn’t able to pay anything.’
The pensioner shared that his generosity hasn’t come without problems – he has been stolen from as well as physically abused by residents ‘with anger issues’.
But the Tasmanian is proud that he has been able to help people and said that an ex-prisoner with his partner and child had nowhere to go when he got out of jail – and now they have a home with him.
Many homeless people have no choice but to pitch a tent in a public space, which can be dangerous (pictured, homeless tents in Brisbane)
Mark said the ex-prisoner and his family pay just $350 a fortnight for a room in his house and that covers internet, power and food.
The generous pensioner said his home is now a ‘bit of a community’ and added he declares all the payments he receives to Centrelink.
Mark’s friend said she wasn’t ‘surprised’ by the backlash but found it ‘disappointing’.
Ms Quinn described the pensioner as a ‘lovely person’ and ‘very generous’, saying he bought a new tent for $600 after someone stole the previous one.
Mark from Hobart wants to help people – the tent he rents in his backyard for $125 a week includes all bills, except food (pictured, homeless people camped in a city park)
Mark has also kicked residents out who were on drugs after telling him they were not.
The Tasmanian said he is just ‘trying to do his bit’.
‘If people went to the showgrounds they’d be charged $40 or more a night,’ he said.
The average renter in Tasmania is currently paying a whopping $7,000 more in annual rent compared with five years ago, according to the Tenants’ Union of Tasmania, Yahoo reported.
The average rent across Australia is now $692 for a house and $544 for a unit per week, according to SQM Research.