Family of seven looking for a home since 2019 now torn apart by the rental crisis

After spending a year sleeping in a caravan with her four young children, a Gympie mother has just given birth to her fifth child and is begging the government to build more public housing.

After spending a year sleeping in a caravan with her four young children, a Gympie mother has just given birth to her fifth child and is begging the government to build more public housing.

A Gympie mother of five children, including a two-week-old baby, has begged the government to build more public housing as her family faces the reality of living in separate houses just to have a roof over their heads.

Jodie Santowski and her partner Michael Franklin were forced to live in a caravan for a year after the private rental they were living in went up for sale.

The family has been desperately searching and applying for rentals in the Gympie region since 2019, but have had no luck.

With a baby on the way, they were forced to split up and move into separate homes this year.

“We are currently residing with my partner‘s family in Gunalda,” Ms Santowski said.

“The house is currently waiting for certain parts to be rebuilt as back in 2019 the house caught fire.

“Myself, my partner and three kids live in one room with a sunroom and partly built kitchen and toilet.

“Our other two daughters have been residing with my family due to our living circumstances.”

Jodie Santowski with four of her young children, who are all facing the reality of living separately while they search for a rental.

Ms Santowski said the amount of rentals available in the Gympie region and the demand for them was “astonishing”.

“In my 10 years of renting I have never had to endure this amount of stress and trouble of finding suitable accommodation,” she said.

“There are 30-plus applicants every time a house is available with people offering more than the asking price just to stand a chance in obtaining a home.”

Data from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland provesdemand for rentals in Gympie is at an all time high, with the rental vacancy rate dropping from 0.4 per cent to 0.3 in the last quarter.

Ms Santowski said her children went to school at Jones Hill so she had to make the half-hour drive daily and the situation was taking its toll on the whole family.

“Petrol expenses, time constraints due to constant roadworks and everyone's schedules causes huge stress to the family,” she said.

“This makes us all quite angry, upset and anxious on a day-to-day basis.

“My children often fight and refuse to go to school because they hate how far away their school is and how they don’t have their own space to chill out in when everything gets too much.”

Jodie Santowski, Michael Franklin and their children who are all under the age of nine.

The stress of the situation has affected Ms Santowski’s mental health and she finds herself being emotional and constantly worrying.

“As any mother would know, sleep is a rare luxury when you have small children and a newborn and I find time where I could be sleeping, I’m catching up on the daily chores just to stay on top,” she said.

“I feel like I have failed as a parent to provide the one thing all children need: a home to call their own.”

Ms Santwoski said the government needed to step up and build more community housing for the families like hers who are struggling and faced with homelessness.

“Rental agencies should put families into the houses with three or more bedrooms instead of couples who are able to offer over the asking rent price,” she said.

Ms Santowski said nothing would warm her heart more than to win the lottery and build enough houses for all the families impacted by this issue.

“Our family has never been separated like this before and we all miss each other terribly and just want to be whole again,” she said.

“I'm just grateful I have family, I couldn’t imagine having no one and having to live on the streets.”