Queensland single mum’s desperate plea after more than 20 rental applications rejected
The single mother from Queensland has been knocked back more than 20 times and she has a sneaking suspicion about why that could be.
A single mother raising three kids under the age of 10 is counting down the days until they will all have to leave their home.
Kaylie Aitken, 34, was warned two months ago that the lease for her townhouse in Griffin, Queensland, would end on April 12.
Her property manager thought that would be ample time for the family to find a new home to live in.
But Ms Aitken has applied to more than 20 places available for rent in the past two months and has been knocked back every time, according to the distraught mother.
A major Queensland housing shortage means she is competing with plenty of others and often rental homes are snapped up within hours of them being listed.
“I already had to throw half my life away when I moved away from my ex,” she told news.com.au.
“I thought this was it, I was happy, we were set up, now it feels like it’s happening all over again. I‘ve applied for so many houses around here, begged them to let me stay.”
But in less than a month, she will be evicted.
In a worst-case scenario, Ms Aitken says she and her children, who are aged 5, 7 and 9, will have to couch surf with her friends or cram into her mother’s tiny granny flat in Brisbane.
With no car and no driving licence, she will either have to make her kids change schools or she will have to commute with them over an hour each way every day via public transport to ensure they attend their current primary school.
“I don’t know what else to do, I’m on the verge of a mental break down and my kids can see it. They also cry every night, scared of what is going to happen to us,” Ms Aitken said, adding that she did end up going to hospital for a severe panic attack.
The mum survives off the single parenting payments from the government and currently pays $360 a week in rent – but she would be willing to stretch it to as much as $425 if that meant keeping a roof over her children’s heads, cutting down on other essentials.
This is an issue being felt across Australia, with record housing shortages but higher demand than ever before making it more competitive than ever to score a dwelling in the rental market, as well as more expensive.
In the latest Domain rental vacancy report, it found that Australia’s national rental vacancy rates as of February this year were “at the lowest point on record”, standing at 1.1 per cent.
Brisbane’s vacancy rate, about a 20 minute drive from where Ms Aitken lives, is dragging that average down as the Queensland capital is on a 0.8 per cent vacancy rate.
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland classified a rental rate of between 0 and 2.5 per cent as “tight” meaning competition between renters was extreme, with not enough houses to go around.
“Healthy” was considered in the 2.6 to 3.5 per cent range and “weak” was anything higher than 3.6 per cent.
Last month, news.com.au reported on an Adelaide family who had their 227 rental applications denied over an 18 month period. They are now homeless.
And last year, news.com.au spoke to a Brisbane mother-of-three who has been homeless for more than 12 months after being knocked back 300 times during the rental process.
Ms Aitken has lived away from her ex-partner for the last six years, four of which has been spent at her current townhouse.
She said she was left blindsided when the property manager informed her that they would not be renewing her lease.
The mother immediately offered more in rent and spent $1500 on maintenance hoping to convince the landlord to let her stay.
“I blew up my savings fixing everything for the most recent inspection, I had a fair bit of savings,” she explained.
The money went toward fixing a divot on the door, which was most likely caused by hailstones and through no fault of her own.
Her daughter had also wet the bed the night before the inspection, so her room smelt of urine. As a result, Ms Aitken had to pay for the carpet to be steam cleaned.
After all that, the landlord revealed they were not budging. They will vacate the property to spruce it up, then sell the place on.
“We’re trying our absolute best to help her,” her property manager said to news.com.au.
“I think it’s a difficult situation, it is hard work, all we can do personally is help and assist. I understand she’s stressed out.”
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Ms Aitken has an appointment booked in with the Department of Housing next week.
“I honestly feel gutted,” she added. “I’m at breaking point, I didn’t ask for this sort of life, I’m making it work.”
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