A young Queensland family of eight has been forced to live in a tent for more than six months as they struggle to find a home amid the worsening rental crisis.
Cameron and Tameka Fletchers never imagined they would have to raise their large brood inside a tent built in camps around Brisbane.
The family has been living in a tent since last September and says their calls and emails to the Queensland Department of Housing have gone unanswered.
“We’ve always had a house,” said Mr. Fletchers 9News.
“We’ve never done this before, so it’s new for us.”
A young Queensland family of eight has been forced to live in a tent for more than six months as they struggle to find a home amid the worsening rental crisis (pictured)
Their four-year-old daughter will start primary school next year, but cannot enroll because they have no permanent address.
The couple, who have six children aged between one and 10, are just one of dozens of families forced to stay in tents amid record vacancy rates.
“Everyone here is going through the same thing,” Mr Fletchers said.
“But it’s the only way to get help.”
Everyday tasks like feeding your children breakfast, entertaining them, and doing their laundry are difficult.
“We had to buy these solar camping showers from Kmart,” Mrs Fletchers said.
The family is happy to move into a three-bedroom house, but the housing department will only offer a five-bedroom property.
A department spokesperson said they had been working with the family since last September, including “providing them with accommodation which they decided to abandon.”
“As we have been helping them find longer-term options, they have turned down new accommodation offers,” the statement said.
The Queensland couple, who have six children aged between one and 10, are just one of dozens of families forced to stay in tents amid record vacancy rates.
However, Fletchers said that was not the case.
“We’ve been pretty much shut out since last September, when we first asked for help, they don’t respond to messages, emails, nothing,” he said.
Fletchers said the “only way to get help” was to pitch a tent at a local campsite.
The housing department said there were eligibility factors that had to be met to provide social housing, including income thresholds.
“However, the department continues to work with the family to find a private rental and provide them with any other support they may need,” the spokesperson said.
It comes just weeks after a “tent city” appeared in Brisbane’s south as a growing number of renters struggled to afford a roof over their heads.
At Musgrave Park, adjacent to the idyllic Southbank resort area, more than 60 tents cover the lawns filled with people seeking permanent accommodation.
The rental vacancy rate across Australia is a staggering 1 per cent, meaning supply is not meeting demand for rental properties.
The vacancy rate for rental properties across Australia is at a staggering 1 per cent, meaning supply is not meeting demand for rental properties.
In Australia’s capital cities, annual rental growth slowed from 17.8 per cent in 2022 to 13.2 per cent in 2023, while in the regions it slowed from 11.6 per cent to 4.2 per cent .
Across the country, real estate investors have abandoned the market and while there has been a rebound, it is not enough to replenish depleted housing levels.
As a result, rental vacancies have remained near record lows of 1.1 percent, up from 1.3 percent in December 2022, forcing prices up.
The average cost of renting a home in state capitals combined has hit a new record of $630 a week, according to real estate platform Domain.
The first three months of 2024 had the sharpest quarterly gain in 17 years.
Advertised home rents rose five percent during the quarter, and units also rose a solid 3.3 percent to a new record median sales price of $620.
The price increases have been caused by a record influx of immigrants and a resulting shortage of available housing.
Stephen Smith, a partner at Deloitte Access Economics, said the nation has not been building enough housing to keep pace with the record influx of immigrants.
The economist was not confident that the government’s goal of building 1.2 million homes from mid-2024 would be met, according to recent forecasts.
Smith said it could take years to change, so the housing shortage and rising property prices and rents “will get a lot worse before they get better.”