Renters forced to move into caravan parks unable to find houses

Desperate Australians who have been knocked back from rentals over and over again are being forced to take desperate measures.

A caravan park that used to be popular with tourists is now full of desperate Australians who have nowhere else to live.

Brisbane Holiday Village owner Geoff Illich said the housing crisis had gone to a whole new level.

“We’re still getting 20 to 40 families a day, every day ringing,” Mr Illich told A Current Affair.

“When we do get one available, we can get 20 applications and we’re trying not to get too many, because you’re only making one family happy. The other families are let down.”

Brisbane Holiday Village owner Geoff Illich said there was huge demand from people looking for a place to live. Picture: A Current Affair

One of those people who managed to get a spot was Kevin O’Donoghue, who told ACA he and his wife lived in a tent for four months amid constant rain and then moved into a cabin at the park.

“It’s just like going to heaven … beautiful people, cabins, everything’s clean and immaculate,” he said, explaining that the couple looked for rentals for months but missed out every time.

A woman, who could not be identified, said she recently escaped a domestic violence relationship and was then forced out of her rental.

The mother-of-five now lives at the park, after having no luck securing another rental.

Only a two-bedroom was available so her three older children live with family.

“It’s difficult because you want to keep all your kids with you as well, to know that they’re all safe,” she told ACA.

Brisbane Holiday Village has become home to many people unable to secure a rental. Picture: A Current Affair

Data from PropTrack in May showed weekly rental prices were averaging from $420 to $575 per week across Australia’s biggest cities.

PropTrack director for economic research Cameron Kusher told news.com.au it was a seriously challenging time for renters across the nation – not only those in our major cities.

“It’s really tough at the moment. Rents are rising pretty much everywhere in the country – Sydney and Melbourne hadn’t been seeing rent rises for a while, but they are also starting to increase,” he said.

“There are a lot less properties on the market, and a lot more people looking.”

The Gold Coast rental market is one of the tightest in Australia. Picture: Dave Hunt/AAP

Last month, Gold Coast mum-of-three Tracey Cunningham told news.com.au she applied for a hundred rentals and was rejected by all of them.

It came after the home she had been renting for five years was sold.

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.

According to the most recent PropTrack figures, from the three months to March 2022, median weekly advertised rental rates increased by 4.7 per cent year-on-year – the strongest annual rate of rental growth recorded since before 2015.

Rents across the combined capital cities were 1.1 per cent higher over both that three-month period and the past year.

Across the combined regional markets, rents increased by 2.4 per cent over the same period and they have risen by 10.3 per cent year-on-year.