'My rental wasn't a safe place, now I'm homeless with two kids'

“It’s getting ridiculous. Sometimes you don’t even hear back with a time for an inspection. I can’t even afford the houses that I’m viewing, but I don’t have a choice.”

Christmas is cancelled for Perth mum Maddy Baseley and her two young kids who have been forced to live in a tent after becoming victims to the dire rental crisis affecting the region.

The single mum holds back tears as she tucks Xzavier, 4 and Jordyn, 3 to bed at night in a hot, cramped campervan.

Fearing for the safety of herself and her children, Maddy was forced to move out of the rental house she’d lived in for two years in Gosnells just over a week ago.

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Maddy said there were drug dealers on one side, who’d previously lived in her rental house, and she frequently had dealers come knocking at her door. 

On the other side were five vicious dogs that constantly jumped the fence into her yard while her children were playing.

“Two weeks ago the front of the house, right outside my bedroom window, was spray painted ‘pay ya tick c***’,” the 26-year-old tells Kidspot.

“That’s where I drew the line. If they are going to come this close to where I sleep, for the safety of my kids I can’t stay here anymore.”

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Maddy with her kids Xzavier and Jordan. Picture: Supplied

"There are moments I feel there is no point in even crying"

With nowhere to go, Maddy borrowed her grandad’s campervan and set it up in the backyard of her mum’s rental house.

“At least we are safe,” she says.

Her two sisters and one of their daughters are already living in the small three bedroom ‘beach shack’, leaving no room for Maddy and the kids.

“I feel my situation is pointless. I feel I’ve failed as a parent to provide. But I don’t know what I can do with the rental crisis,” the desperate mum opens up sharing her pain.

Life in the campervan is tough. All three share a mattress and it’s incredibly hot as Perth swelters through a heatwave.

“It’s stressful and it gets hot and cramped. They (the kids) keep saying, ‘when are we going home’,” Maddy says.

“I’m grateful they don’t understand but it’s really upsetting to hear.

“I usually cry in the shower. There are moments when I feel there is no point in even crying.

“Our routines have completely changed with the kids up at 5am with the sun. Sometimes it’s cold in the mornings and we just have to quickly get dressed.

“We don’t have any toys because there’s no room. We basically live outside.

“It’s a real feeling of overwhelming. Claustrophobic and no privacy.”

RELATED: ‘My family was homeless for months… then we told our kids we had a house’

The message that was graffitied underneath Maddy's window. Picture: Supplied

"There are 30 people queued up to vew every house"

Maddy is only allowed to camp in the backyard for two weeks at a time so every two weeks she will have to pack up and move to another site before returning to her mum’s backyard for two weeks.

Each day she drives around Perth trying to find a rental property with the kids in tow.

“I have been going to view rentals non-stop and applied for around 80 properties,” Maddy reveals.

“It’s getting ridiculous. Sometimes you don’t even hear back with a time for an inspection.

“It’s intimidating, there are 30 plus people queued up to view a house.

“I can’t even afford the houses that I’m viewing, but I don’t have a choice.”

RELATED: Single mum rejected from rentals over 'safety' concerns for her child

Maddy and her two kids have been forced in a campervan while they find something permanent. Picture: Supplied

Xzavier and Jordyn inside their great-grandad's campervan, which is parked in their grandma's backyard. Picture: Supplied

"I'm not doing Christmas, I can't afford it"

She said she had been paying $390 a week for the house they moved out of, but now two-bedroom places are going for between $430 - $450 a week.

“It is absolutely horrible right now with the rental crisis. There is nothing available,” she explains.

Despairing she will never find a rental house, she says she has had to cancel Christmas to put all her money into saving for a caravan for them to live in.

“I am not doing Christmas. I can’t afford it. They are asking about it and want presents, but I tell them they will have Christmas at their dad’s.

“I used to go all out for the kids at Christmas, but right now I’m emotionless. I just need to find a house or a caravan.”

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family buy a caravan.

Originally published as 'My rental wasn't a safe place, now I'm homeless with two kids'