Smithfield Plains mother of three Rachel Challenor faces homelessness amid SA rental crisis

A mum-of-three is being booted from the Smithfield Plains rental she has called home for a decade, and is quickly running out of options.

For the past decade Rachel Challenor has had the safety of secure housing — but just weeks ago that was shattered.

The single mother of three who lives at Smithfield Plains was told the house she had lived in for 10 years was being sold.

She was reassured it was an investment and she would be tenanted but three days after it settled she was told she needed to be out by August 4.

Smithfield Plains mother of three Rachel Challenor had her rental property of 10 years sold while living there, thrusting her into the rental market. Picture: Tom Huntley

“I have applied and applied to even just look at houses from everywhere from Lewiston to Para Hills,” she said.

At a recent inspection at Brahma Lodge Ms Challenor had to compete with 30 others viewing the property in the five minutes she was there.

For Ms Challenor the challenge has been made more difficult as she battles to cater for her two young boys, five and 11, who have complex disabilities including autism and ADHD, and her 16-year-old daughter.

“I’ve had to tell my boys that, unfortunately, we might have to go into a three-bedroom home,” Ms Challenor said.

“But the thought of that is better than the thought of being homeless.

“It is extremely overwhelming and the guilt I feel at the thought of being homeless makes me feel like I have failed as a mum and protector of my children.”

Since learning she was being evicted, Ms Challenor estimates she has applied for about 45 properties over the past few weeks.

She has been pushed to the point where she will apply for properties without physically inspecting them.

“I’ve been applying for anything just as long as the photos don’t show something that looks really bad,” she said.

Using Ms Challenor’s budget of $450 and searching for a four bedroom property just 16 properties are available to her on realestate.com.au

Ms Challenor’s single parent pension and carers payment offer her an income of about $1900 each fortnight, but she has been unable to work full-time while she supports her youngest son into school.

It comes as South Australia is in the grips of a rental crisis with the latest figures from May showing the rental vacancy rate in the state sits at an all-time-low 0.3 per cent.

In northern Adelaide that number is lower still at 0.2 per cent.

Families have turned to living in tents and caravans, while others have couch surfed for months on end while they apply for hundreds of properties.