For more than a year-and-a-half, Cobram resident Leigh Tomlin and her family of six have been in limbo, trying to find a new house to rent in the Goulburn Valley.
She is the primary carer for her husband and four children, who live with autism.
Her husband had Guillain-Barré syndrome five years ago and a cardiac arrest two-and-a-half years ago.
Ms Tomlin has to maintain a “smiley face” and “keep going” when dealing with the pressure of finding a home.
“I get the fun jobs of running around doing everything,“ she said with a laugh.
Since her landlords died in July 2020, Ms Tomlin has been trying to find a new place to move into.
The family members do not actually want to leave their accommodation, but they have to and have applied for more than 50 places so far.
“We love being in this house, we love Cobram, we moved here eight years ago for a school for people with disabilities — it was the town and the people that we’ve fallen in love with,” Ms Tomlin said.
She has been told that if she does not find a place soon her family could eventually be evicted and left on the streets.
Her family is classed as homeless, as she does not live in a secure housing situation.
Their home has been “packed up in boxes” since October 2020, ready to move whenever they get accepted.
This way of living has impacted her children, particularly her 14-year-old son.
“All he’s asking for is ‘When can I have my toys back? When can I have my Ooshies back? When can I have all of my friends back?’” Ms Tomlin said.
“It’s got to the stage where he wouldn't even open these boxes of Legos that he got last year for his birthday or for Christmas Eve.
“We boxed them up and I’ll open them when I get a new house.“
As Ms Tomlin is the primary carer, she said she had not had time to work or try to find work, so they survive on Centrelink payments.
“It’s lousy, but most of the time I can be upbeat, but you have to be for the kids,” she said.
Ms Tomlin has reached out to organisations including Yarrawonga Health and Beyond Housing, but she is still facing difficulties with the lack of homes available.
"It just feels like you’re going over the same things with them all the time ... we keep applying and applying and applying — it’s really hard,’’ she said.
Beyond Housing Homelessness Network co-ordinator Janine Bussell said the private rental market was “in crisis” in the region.
She said it was “very difficult” to access a property through the rental market regardless of whether people “have a good rental history”, as “demand far outweighs supply”.
However, one of the main reasons there is an increase in homelessness rates is “rising rents in the private rental market and inadequate supply of social housing”, causing even more difficulties for people with disabilities.
“This includes housing for people who need a larger home to accommodate family or those with accessibility requirements,” she said.
“More and more people living in regional Victoria are unable to find an affordable home, which is becoming more evident in regional areas like the Goulburn Valley,” Ms Bussell said.
About 1500 people are on the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing waiting list for the Shepparton area.
Ms Bussell is calling on all levels of government along with local communities to work together to create and support “a range of social housing options”.
“It has become increasingly difficult for low-income households to find affordable rental housing options across Victoria, including the Goulburn Valley, due to rents increasing faster than people’s incomes,” she said.
“They (prospective renters) often want to stay because they have strong connections with their community, so they often don’t want to relocate.”
As Ms Tomlin continues applying for places, the pressure of finding a home has impacted her mental health, including when she had a panic attack after doing a housing inspection.
“I just got back in the car and I had a meltdown and I just thought ‘When’s this ever going to end?’ It just feels like it's never-ending,” she said.
“We shouldn’t be in this house at the moment, we should have well and truly gone.”