Qld housing crisis: ‘Invisible’ mum left in limbo after four months on list

A Brisbane single mum says she has been in “survival mode” after couch surfing and bouncing between temporary accommodation with her 18-month-old daughter while she waits for social housing.

A single mother of an 18-month-old says she feels “invisible” after spending the past four months on the social housing waitlist.

Kayla Krizon, 31, said she felt like she had been “left in limbo” after she was put on the waitlist and into emergency accommodation at a holiday apartment.

“You just start to feel invisible after a while,” she said.

“My first emergency accommodation … as soon as I drove in there I wanted to drive straight back out,” she said.

“I was only there for about two weeks after they moved me on.”

But Ms Krizon said before she had daughter 18-month-old Mylee Manson, she was couch surfing between her mother and friends’ houses.

“It wasn’t sustainable but the prices were just so high,” she said.

Ms Krizon said it was particularly difficult raising her daughter Mylee under the circumstances.

“I was in shared accommodation for a while but that obviously wasn’t suitable for her,” she said.

Kayla Krizon and her 18-month-old daughter Mylee Manson have been bouncing around emergency housing while waiting for a permanent housing. Picture: David Clark

Ms Krizon said while her current temporary accommodation in Indooroopilly was better, it still wasn’t ideal.

“I don’t think I’ll be leaving here anytime soon. I know people who have been on the waitlist for 9 months before anyone even got back to them,” she said.

“I’m just on survival mode but being on this wait list is very unsettling.”

Ms Krizon said it was very upsetting.

“But what do you do, it feels like there’s no end. The whole system is a bit touch and go,” she said.

Ms Krizon said she was currently leaning on Centrelink for income.

“I can’t focus on anything else at this point,” she said.

“There just aren’t enough houses available.”

Ms Krizon said she felt like she didn’t really have a support network.

“It doesn’t feel like we’ll be getting a house anytime soon, but even this environment isn’t the best” she said.

Ms Krizon said the last place she was staying was so small she had to do the dishes in the shower.

“It was pretty much a studio apartment with one bedroom, a bathroom and a mini fridge, it had no kitchen,” she said.