'I was forced to live in a bus, now I barely see my daughter'

“It’s so much more devastating than what people say, and I think when you’re in that situation, if you ever try to talk about how hard it really is, you’ll just fall apart.”

A single mum who moved from the city to the country in search of cheaper housing has been forced to live in an old school bus because she still can’t afford a rental.

9News reports Emma Lenz moved into the converted school bus earlier this year near Warwick, a small town about 130 kilometres southwest of Brisbane.

Emma told 9News she had a stable job as a gardener, but that still wasn’t enough to stop her from becoming homeless 12 months ago.

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It’s a big change for the mother-of-two, who lived comfortably in Sydney as recently as five years ago while working as a supermarket merchandiser.

“I lived in Sydney for so long, and I had this beautiful apartment with an indoor pool, we were doing so well,” Emma said.

“My rent in Sydney was $450 per week, and I just couldn’t afford any more than that - it was sort of killing me.”

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Emma was living a charmed life in Sydney before rising rental costs forced her to move interstate. Picture: 9News

"I thought I'd live happily ever after"

The problems started for Emma when apartments around her started bumping up to $530 a week, and she was left knowing it was only a matter of time before she’d be priced out.

“The anxiety waiting for that rent rise was huge,” Emma told 9News.

“I thought by buggering off to the country, I could get myself out of it and I’d live happily ever after.”

She transferred her job to a supermarket in Warwick, and made the move in December 2018, when the median rental price for houses in the area was $270 a week, 9News reports.

Emma’s first rental home was $250, and she lived in that house with her children for three years.

9News reports the problems started post-Covid when folks from the city started moving to regional Queensland seeking ‘treechanges’, putting pressure on the local rental market.

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“I was kicked out of our house because of the rental crisis,” she told 9News.

“They put the rent up and didn’t even give me the option to pay the higher amount, they just kicked me out.

“The second house I had out here, the guy they kicked out was paying $280 per week. I moved in the next day, and they charged me $420 per week.”

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Emma shows off the bus she is forced to live in in regional Queensland. Picture: 9News

"It was hard having a teenager in the share house"

A rental increase on the second house once again forced Emma out, and she lived in a sharehouse with her 13-year-old daughter while her 10-year-old son went to live with his dad.

However, that living arrangement was also short lived, as she was asked to leave the house because the arrangement “wasn’t working out”.

“I shared with a young girl who is not a mum, and I think it was hard for her having a teenager in the house,” Emma told 9News.

Working against Emma’s quest for a house was the ridiculous increase in Queensland’s rental prices.

In the Southern Downs, the region where Emma lives, the median price for a rental house had increased from $270 to $435 a week in five short years, a 61.1 per cent increase.

When she first moved to the region with her children, she was paying about $13,000 a year in rent.

“Now, out here, you are looking at a minimum of about $21,000 in rent a year,” she told 9News.

“I feel like if your household income is less than $70,000, you can’t even apply.

“They might take the paperwork, but they won’t even give it to the owner because they need to know that you can afford it.”

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Emma plans to save for a block of land while living in the bus. Picture: 9News

"It more devastating than people say"

Faced with homelessness again, Emma told 9News her mental health really struggled.

“You’re sort of hanging on to life with every ounce of strength you’ve got,” she said.

“At the same time, you’ve got to use that strength to get up and get your kids to school, or get to work.

“It’s so much more devastating than what people say, and I think when you’re in that situation, if you ever try to talk about how hard it really is, you’ll just fall apart.”

Emma was given an old caravan to sleep in for a while before her friend started a GoFundMe that raised more than $20,000.

She used that money, plus $10,000 of her own savings, to buy a converted school bus.

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The interior of Emma's bus. Picture: 9News

"My children are victims of this"

Emma told 9News the fundraiser had saved her from homelessness, and given her hope for the future.

However, it had also put a big strain on her relationship with her daughter, who has moved back in with her dad as she “refuses” to sleep in the bus.

“My children are also victims of this,” she said. “I don’t think my daughter would have these problems if we had a stable home.

“If we can’t even get houses now, how must it feel for them?

“When you don’t have a future, it’s not nice, and it’s really hard.”

Originally published as 'I was forced to live in a bus, now I barely see my daughter'