Sydney rental crisis: Family cram into old caravan after being priced out of their home of 16 years

A family of three lives in a leaky old caravan after Sydney’s crazy rental market evicted them from the house they’ve lived in for 16 years.

Linda Thompson, 49, and her daughters Alannah and Imogen, aged 16 and 11, were forced to leave their Bradford home in the west of the city three weeks ago following a dispute with the landlord.

But with rents soaring and supplies running short, Ms. Thompson has been unable to find a new place to live despite submitting dozens of applications.

Meanwhile, the family hops between relatives’ front yards and electric campsites, which cost $530 a week, significantly more than the $430-a-week three-bedroom house they had to leave behind.

Ms. Thompson shared her situation on a local Facebook group, which garnered hundreds of responses from people who shared their own nightmarish experiences.

Rents have soared 6.7% to an average of $495 a week across Australia in 2022, and the crisis is particularly acute in Sydney, where hundreds of people are forced to queue for city-wide inspections. .

Ms Thompson told Daily Mail Australia that she is unable to work at the moment due to a neck injury and spends her days searching for rental properties, to no avail.

“I’m trying to apply with my partner so we can finally live together – we’re probably applying for 20 rentals a week, but we keep getting turned down, partly because he has no rental history,” she said.

Ms. Thompson has eight children ranging in age from 11 to 26, but all but the two youngest have moved into their own rentals in the Campbelltown area.

She fears that her requests will be ignored because of the dispute with the landlord and because she cannot pay more than the asking price.

Friendly real estate agents have told you there’s nothing wrong with your family’s applications, just that they haven’t been ‘selected’ yet.

They don’t have running water in the caravan, and until they bought a mini-fridge on the Facebook marketplace, they consumed two bags of ice a day.

During their first week they suffered from severe heat stroke and were unable to keep down food or sleep properly. One daughter had infected mosquito bites and the other had sunburns so severe that she had to go to the hospital.

Both girls sleep in the two beds inside the trailer, while Mrs. Thompson is on an inflatable bed in a canvas annex attached to the mobile home.

However, the annex has broken zippers, so no protection against the bugs and rain blowing inside.

Heavy rains have also caused the roof of the annex to collapse, along with the pop-up roof of the caravan.

“I’ve had tarpaulins put up over the caravan and annex, but it’s still leaking and the weight of the water makes it difficult to maintain both,” said Ms Thompson.

“Currently I have a broom propped up on some pillows that keep the roof of the annex up to prevent it from filling with water.”

The window frames are also old and brittle and barely hold the glass in place. Two days ago, a caravan window popped out of its frame and smashed onto her bed.

Along with Mrs Thompson’s makeshift bedroom, the living room, kitchen and laundry room are also crammed into the annex.

He is afraid to use the stove because it is very old and disused.

“I’m afraid it’s going to explode,” he said. We’ve been living on roast chicken and biscuits because it’s easy.

Despite the obstacles, he said the van is better than nothing.

“We would be in a tent if it weren’t for my partner’s boss,” he said.

The family also pays $250 a week to store all their furniture and possessions, and have been forced to leave their three cats and fish as pets to their eldest daughter.

Despite her dire financial situation, Ms Thompson said her partner, whom she met in the past 12 months, earns too much to qualify for public housing or assistance plans.

The family stays in charge of their eldest daughter’s rental property, but their time is limited.

“We don’t want to risk my oldest daughter being evicted from her tenancy,” said Ms. Thompson.

I don’t know where we’ll go next.

Members of the Facebook group took to the comments section to wish Ms. Thomspon luck and share their own horror stories for rent.

‘Definitely not alone. Me, two children and two cats have come out of a tent. [to a campervan]. We will get through this,” wrote one woman.

Another said: ‘Hopefully the best memories are made of this, just remember some people chose to live out of a van full time. You got it.’

One woman said that she and her 13-year-old daughter have been couch surfing since August of last year.

“Staying with my parents who recently told us they don’t want us here anymore,” she wrote.

‘I have applied for more than 100 places and I am also waiting in the housing department. I have three chronic illnesses and recent open heart surgery.

Nationwide, rents rose 6.7 percent to an average of $495 a week in 2022, but the problem is far worse in capital cities.

In cities like Melbourne and Sydney, increased post-Covid demand for fewer properties saw unit rents rise 9.3%, while houses rose 8.3%.

Rent has become a key issue in the upcoming NSW state election, with the Opposition Labor Party saying it will create a Rent Commissioner to advocate for tenants and boost rental supply in the regions if it wins. the power.