Gold Coast mum knocked back after applying for 100 rentals

The “heartbreaking” rental crisis in Australia, which is pushing some into homelessness, means people are turning to “desperate” measures to survive.

When Tracey Cunningham’s home she had been renting for five years was sold, she was suddenly thrust into the brutal rental market on the Gold Coast.

It saw the mum-of-three, whose children are aged 12, 10 and seven, apply for a hundred rentals and she was rejected for all of them, she said.

“It was disheartening to even go to them as you knew you had no chance anyway, because being a single mum on Centrelink compared to other couples that were there and might have had full time jobs,” she told news.com.au.

“It was very stressful.”

The 37-year-old said the family ended up homeless for a few weeks and were forced to stay in a caravan, while the kids had to miss school.

But she was thrown a lifeline when the people who bought her rental engineered a switch so she could move into their two bedroom unit.

Gold Coast rents have skyrocketed. Picture: @bleo_creative

Yet, its meant the single mum’s rent has skyrocketed for a much smaller place and she is now forced to share a bed with her daughter.

“When we first moved up here I was paying $300 for a three-bedroom townhouse and I’m not paying $450 a week for a two-bedroom unit,” she said.

“It’s huge and I can’t really afford it but that’s what we have to do.

“My daughter doesn’t like it too much and doesn’t have her own space and she is in my bed and the bed takes up the whole room. It’s annoying and hard for her to deal with it.”

Her current rental was sold eight weeks after they moved in, so even now she is nervous about the future.

The Gold Coast rental market is one of the tightest in Australia. Picture: Getty Images

Ms Cunningham is in one of the worst rental markets in Australia.

Vacancy rates on the Gold Coast have remained below one per cent since around mid-2020, while Proptrack’s quarterly rental report showed weekly rents have increased by 18.4 per cent between March 2021 and this year one of the largest increases across the nation.

At one stage Ms Cunningham was so “desperate” as not only did the family face homelessness, but her car also broke down and she was quoted $3000 to be fixed, that she turned to crowd-funding.

Having never asked for help, she said the campaign was for a close friend as she didn’t want people to know she was the one actually in trouble. It raised $1000.

“I was actually suggested to do it from a friend. I wouldn’t have actually pushed to do it myself – to ask for help – if she hadn’t suggested it but she could see how much I was struggling and I had nothing to lose,” she said.

“It didn’t make as much as a I needed but did get me through what I needed it for. I found other ways so I sold things like clothing and household accessories to make up money anyway.”

Tracey's car broke down and she was quoted $3000 to get it fixed. Picture: Supplied

Like Ms Cunningham, desperate Australians are having to turn to crowd-funding to ask for help as they fall behind on paying their rent or to assist them to fund temporary accommodation, even appealing for money to buy caravans to prevent homelessness.

GoFundMe data shows a huge jump in Aussies using the platform to ask for help.

Between May 2020 and May 2021 there were 37 local fundraising campaigns held on GoFundMe related to providing basic housing and accommodation needs, but in the year following, there were 158 – a whopping increase of 327 per cent.

Minimum wage earners in Australia can afford just 1.6 per cent of available rentals while those on benefits have been priced out of the market completely, a shocking report revealed last month.

Kate Liston-Mills has seen the impact of the rental crisis in her town of Pambula, which is located in the Bega Valley Shire on the far south coast of New South Wales.

The mum-of-two saw bushfires ravage the town leaving “climate refugees” homeless but also does the social media for Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast and has seen the heartbreaking messages come in.

“We were continually calling out for caravan donations so people impacted by the fires could stay in the community but have some privacy and independence and the money to rebuild hasn’t come through two years later, it’s awful,” she said.

“So we already had all that but we also had the housing crisis. There is pretty much not any available rentals in the entire area, so if you don't own a house here you can’t actually stay here, so we are watching a lot of cool people having to leave and it’s absolute c**p.”

Kate Liston-Mills launched a crowdfunding campaign on the community. Picture: Supplied

Feeling “helpless” about the issue impacting her community, along with her husband Sam, the couple launched a crowd-funding campaign in January to raise money to buy permanent homes for people.

“It’s been pretty sad to watch so many members of the community in such sh**y circumstances. There are young people coming through with little means to get themselves out of the situation,” she said.

“One person messaged and they were working three jobs and just affording rent and had been told place they were renting was being sold.

“People are poorer than they ever have been in despite of the low unemployment rate because of cost of living is so much higher.”

The crowd-funding also involved the 36-year-old spending an hour everyday walking the local walking tracks and picking up rubbish with daily updates on her progress, which created momentum for the campaign.

Kate Liston-Mills used cleaning up the community to create momentum for the campaign. Picture: Supplied

Their original target was $7000 but they raised an incredible $17,780 that has allowed Social Justice Advocates, which often helps out women fleeing domestic violence, to buy two granny flats which are due in town in the coming week.

But Ms Liston-Mills said crowd-funding should not be a long-term solution for those in need.

“The gap between the haves and have nots is widening quickly. GoFundMe shouldn't be people’s only option but I think often at the moment it is,” she said.

“Thank goodness it exists not just for these structural injustices but also for the increasing numbing of natural disasters we are seeing. For our purposes it has been an absolute gift for the whole community. It has allowed us to build community and give back.”

Kate Liston-Mills said she would use the platform again to help people in need. Picture: Supplied

Nicola Britton, director of GoFundMe Australia, said those impacted by the “housing crisis” sweeping Australia are putting their hand up for help on the platform.

“When we notice a trend on GoFundMe it often reflects a much deeper societal issue. For so many Australians to turn to crowd-funding to plug funding gaps as they relocate to more affordable areas, or purchase alternative accommodation, indicates that the problem runs deep,” she said.

“The stories we are reading are heartbreaking. Though we are glad we can provide a platform to help and the power of community is shining through, those impacted cannot feasibly continue to rely on generous donors to keep a roof over their heads.”