‘Me and my kids are homeless - even after 200 rental applications’

“I’m willing to pay up to $600 for tiny places and it’s still hopeless,” the Orange mum reveals. “They see a single parent who is on benefits, and you go straight to the bottom of the list.”

Josephine Agostino

3 min read

June 17, 2024 - 11:02AM

‘What hope is there?’: Australia’s housing crisis impacting younger generations

Family Life

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As a model tenant paying all her own bills for eight years as a sole parent, Julie hoped her last rental would provide some much needed stability for her three children.

Two years into her tenancy, however, the mum from Orange, NSW, was notified her $390-a-week rent would be raised to a whopping $480 - a jump of $90 per week.

“I could barely afford $390, so $480 was just impossible for me,” the 38-year-old, whose sole income is government benefits, said.

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Julie questioned the huge increase - and asked when the leaking roof of the three bedroom home (which was so severe it was letting water stream down inside walls) would be fixed.

Soon after, however, she received a termination notice without grounds, and that’s when her rental nightmare began.

As soon as her 90-day notice period began, Julie began to apply for modest two and three bedroom properties priced between $360 and $450 per week, knowing at the outset just how difficult it would be to secure another rental.

She never imagined, however, that her search would leave her and her children, aged 3, 6 and 10, homeless.

Julie, pictured with two of her children, has been rejected from more than 200 rentals. Picture: Supplied

"I was applying for tiny places for $400 a week"

Despite attending four to five inspections each weekend for three months in the regional area, and applying for many more online unseen, Julie had no choice but to seek help from emergency housing agency, Link2home, where she and the kids were moved round from motel room to motel room - which had only a microwave, toaster and kettle to prepare any food - for two months.

Even then, it still cost Julie close to $300 a week.

“I wasn’t being fussy - I was applying for tiny places with horrible, ripped up carpets for $400 a week, and searching in other towns and having to move my kids to other schools.”

Julie then spent five months at a women’s refuge, where she was just grateful to be able to cook her kids a proper meal despite having to live in “poor conditions”.

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Desperate to put a roof over her children’s heads, Julie widened her search to properties costing up to $600 per week, despite knowing it would leave her barely enough to pay her other bills.

“I’m applying for so many places without even seeing them because that’s what the market is like now,” she says hopelessly.

“I’m willing to share a room with my child so the other two can share. And I still get the decline notice hours later.

“They see a single parent who is on benefits, and you go straight to the bottom of the list.”

Julie was forced to live in motels for months with her three girls. Picture: Supplied

"You can't describe the toll it takes on your mental health"

Shockingly, Julie has so far been knocked back for more than 200 rentals.

“You can’t even describe the toll that it takes on your mental health,” she says honestly.

“I go to dark places and struggle to comprehend how I can’t even do the bare minimum for my kids.”

For now, she and the kids are living in a comfortable three bedroom home where she pays $250 in weekly rent to a local charity - but Julie is no less under pressure to find her own place as the arrangement is strictly transitional, and she has no idea just how long it will be provided for.

“There are a lot of conditions, such as having a house inspection every week and providing proof every week of all the places I’ve been declined for,” the stressed mum says.

“I also can’t bring all our things here, so I’m paying $150 a month for storage.”

Julie said she was losing hope of finding a place where she could afford both rent and all her bills. Picture: Supplied

"I don't want to keep living like this"

Sadly, Julie doesn’t hold much hope of securing government housing, as she has been on a waitlist since 2016, when she fled domestic violence, and is yet to receive an offer.

Despite her children needing local support systems, Julie now has no choice but to widen her search even further to include Sydney, 250km away.

“I will do anything it takes because I don’t want to keep living like this for the next few years, hoping the rental crisis will calm down,” she says.

“I’m prepared to have to go to food banks just to feed the kids - that will be our reality.”