Single Caboolture mum of three facing homelessness by this weekend

A single Caboolture mum of three with a foster child will be homeless this weekend if she can’t find a rental after being knocked back by 50 landlords this month.

A Caboolture mum-of-three has been knocked back 47 times this month for rental properties. File photo: AAP/Mick Tsikas

A single Caboolture mum of three with a foster child will be homeless this weekend if she can’t find a rental after being knocked back by 50 landlords this month.

The mother, 42, who did not want to be named as her children were not aware of the looming crisis, has a fulltime youth worker job.

However it pays so poorly all her income has been going on rent and she has been relying on friends and family to pay for food, bills and other expenses.

“I’ve been in the tenancy for a year now on a monthly contract,” she said.

“When I first moved in rent was $510 a week, then it went up to $680.

“It’s a four bedroom place in Burpengary.

“The rent is ridiculous but now the owner plans to move in and renovate it, which is fine I understand it’s their place, but I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.”

Despite applying for rentals within her price range for more than a month she has been turned away by 47 already.

“There’s always someone else who can afford to pay more than they’re asking or even offers to pay three months’ rent upfront,” she said.

“It’s all incredibly stressful and I know there’s other people doing it tougher … it’s not just me,” she said.

“But this rental crisis is denying us the basic human right of somewhere to live.

“It’s frightening and overwhelming.”

She said she had no idea what she could do.

“If I don’t find somewhere by this weekend then it’s going to get messy,” she said.

“I have three teenagers (aged 18, 15 and 14) and a foster baby (three years old) in my care … I can’t just move onto the streets.

“They know something is going on since I’ve been spending all of my time applying for new places and have been packing but they don’t really know what’s going on … I’m trying to protect them the best I can.”

She said until recent years her family never struggled to find somewhere to live or pay bills and food.

“But now it’s just so competitive and impossible to find a place to live,” she said.

“I won’t get approved for anything where the rent is more than 30 per cent of your income.

“With the rental market the way it is everything is being pushed up and our pay isn’t reflecting that with businesses also struggling unable to give out raises.’’

She has been spending all of her wage on her rent now so had struggled to put money away for a bond.

As a desperate last measure she has started a GoFundMe campaign.

“I am acutely aware that there are so many others out there also feeling the sting of this rental crisis here in QLD, but with a foster baby in my care who has been with us since she was 12 weeks old, if we can’t secure a home we lose her – and this will have a detrimental effect on her as well as us,” she said.

GoFundMe regional director Nicola Britton said there had been a 263 per cent increase in the number of fundraisers on its site mentioning “cost of living’’ and “rising cost of living’’ in the past 12 months.

“Australians turn to GoFundMe to seek financial help when they need it most,’’ she said.

“In the past, the tipping point for a personal financial crisis has been a large expense such as a long-term illness.’’

“Now, this crisis point is simply an increase in rent or an unexpected bill.

“The brunt of rising living costs are borne by the most vulnerable.

“What we are seeing at GoFundMe is an urgent call for help by those who need immediate support to manage a health condition, a sudden loss, or to just tide them over financially.

“I am glad we can provide a platform for those in need to seek help and want people to know it’s OK to ask for support.

“But when so many people are impacted, the community can only provide so much.”