Cairns Villa and Leisure Caravan Park resident Chris Hunt‘s struggle to find a home
A Cairns man forced into a single-room unit shared with his son at a Cairns caravan park is desperate for a permanent roof over his head. Read his struggle to find a home.
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A CAIRNS man forced into a single-room unit shared with his son at a Cairns caravan park is desperate for a permanent roof over his head.
Chris Hunt lost his home at a rental property when the owner cashed in on increased demand for housing stock and sold the house.
Since then Mr Hunt and his son have been on a tour of west Cairns caravan parks while applying for scores of private rentals.
He found a place at Cairns Villa and Leisure after Mr Hunt booked a short term at other caravan parks assuming a suitable rental would come up.
But it didn’t.
“We stayed at Sunland Caravan Park and then NRMA but they wouldn’t let us stay beyond the booking because stupid me thought we would find something by then,” he said.
“The caravan parks are full of people with the same story as me.”
Forced to give up his pet dog Zeus the former manager at Thursday Island’s Royal Hotel is desperate to find a place to live.
But properties in his price range are scarce and competition is fierce.
“There’s nothing around, nothing. We’re still trying and we are not going to give up,” he said.
Commissioned for national Homelessness Week a three year rental data analysis by SQM Research revealed a significant disparity between an average wage growth of 2.3 per cent annually during the past three years and increasing rental costs for Cairns tenants.
Cairns recorded a three year annualised increase of 9.3 per cent and an average rent surged to $462.42 last recorded on July 28.
Mr Hunt is a client of not-for-profit organisation Workways Australia tasked with making lives better for socially disadvantaged people.
Currently there are 1357 people experiencing homelessness in Cairns, 2340 people languish on the social housing register and 65 per cent of those are considered to have very high needs.
A fully employed worker with a reputable Cairns commercial cleaning firm Mr Hunt has struggled with knock-back after knock-back.
He said the rejection has taken a toll on him and his son.
“It all depends on how much money you got,” he said.
“Its getting to me, but I just think of the kids that need somewhere to live too.
“I’m 65, my time has passed but there’s a lot of young people out there in my situation.”
But the toughest part was not having enough space when family visited Cairns and he was reluctant to bring his baby granddaughter into the caravan park.
“They can’t stay here,” he said.
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Originally published as Cairns Villa and Leisure Caravan Park resident Chris Hunt‘s struggle to find a home
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