A young family of eight in Queensland 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 expected they would have to raise their large brood in a tent pitched at campsites near Brisbane.
The family have been living in a tent since September last year and say their calls and emails to the Queensland Housing Department have gone unanswered.
“We’ve always had a house,” Mr. Fletchers said 9News.
“We’ve never done this before, so this is new to us.”
A young family of eight in Queensland have been forced to live in a tent for over six months as they struggle to find a home amid the worsening rental crisis (pictured)
Their four-year-old daughter will go to primary school next year, but cannot be registered 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 into 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.”
Daily tasks such as feeding their children breakfast, keeping the little ones occupied and washing their clothes are difficult.
“We had to buy these solar camping showers from Kmart,” Ms Fletchers said.
The family would like to move into a three-bedroom house, but the housing ministry only offers five-bedroom properties.
A department spokesperson said they had been working with the family since September last year, including “providing them with accommodation they wanted to leave.”
“While we have assisted them in finding longer-term options, they have declined further offers of accommodation,” the statement said.
The Queensland couple, who have six children aged between one and 10, are just one of dozens of families forced into tents amid record vacancy rates.
However, Ms Fletchers said this was not the case.
“We’ve been pretty much locked out since last September when we first applied for help. They don’t respond to messages, emails, nothing,” she said.
Mr Fletchers said the “only way to get help” was to pitch a tent at a local campsite.
The housing department said there were criteria that had to be met to provide social housing, including income thresholds.
“However, the department continues to work with the family to find private rental accommodation and provide any other support they may require,” the spokesperson said.
It comes just weeks after a ‘tent city’ popped up in Brisbane’s south, with an increasing number of renters struggling to afford a roof over their heads.
In Musgrave Park, bordering the idyllic Southbank tourist area, more than sixty tents are filled with people looking for permanent housing.
The rental vacancy rate across Australia is as high as 1 percent, meaning demand for rental properties is not being met by supply.
The rental vacancy rate across Australia is as high as 1 percent, meaning demand for rental properties is not being met by supply
In Australian capitals, annual rental growth slowed from 17.8 percent in 2022 to 13.2 percent in 2023, while in the regions it slowed from 11.6 percent to 4.2 percent.
Across the country, real estate investors have exited the market and while there has been a recovery, it is not enough to replenish the depleted housing stock.
As a result, rental vacancy rates have remained near a record low at 1.1 percent, down from 1.3 percent in December 2022, pushing prices higher.
According to property platform Domain, the average cost of renting a home in the combined state capitals has hit a new record of $630 per week.
The first three months of 2024 saw the sharpest quarterly profit in seventeen years.
Advertised house rents rose five percent in the quarter, with units also rising a solid 3.3 percent to a new record average asking price of $620.
The price increases have been caused by a record influx of migrants and the resulting shortage of available housing.
Deloitte Access Economics partner Stephen Smith said the country has not built enough homes to keep up with the record influx of migrants.
According to recent forecasts, the economist was not confident that the government’s target of building 1.2 million homes from mid-2024 would be achieved.
Mr Smith said it could take years for that to change, so the housing shortage and rising property prices and rents will “get a lot worse before it gets better”.