Anthea’s story – housing insecurity has moved her family hundreds of kilometres away
Anthea and her three children were living in Yanchep when an investor bought the four bedroom house she was renting and upped her rent by $100 per week.
This was not the first rent increase for Anthea and her family. During the 18 months they were living in the home, it had sold twice and had multiple rent increases assisted by four different real estate agency changes.
It was an extremely confusing, dehumanising and stressful time for Anthea, but the latest increase meant 74% of her income was going to rent and it wasn’t long before she and her children had to move out.
“It just wasn’t sustainable. After paying rent there was hardly anything left for utilities, food or health bills,” says Anthea.
Priced out of Perth’s rental market and newly homeless, Anthea and her children moved four times in four months trying to find some sort of semi-permanent accommodation.
They moved from hotels, to friends’ houses, and to caravan parks – which saw them relocate around Perth and its surrounding regional areas.
Her children had to move schools several times, leaving their friends and support networks and trying to start again but never knowing for how long. Adding to the mental and emotional strain of homelessness was the financial burden of moving costs, storage costs and new school uniforms.
Anthea called caravan parks around Perth trying to get something more permanent for her family, but many of the parks would not allow her to stay over 21 days.
Eventually she found some temporary accommodation – but it meant moving the children over 400 kms away and starting all over again.
Over the past eight months, Anthea and her children have been living in a one-room dormitory in a caravan park in regional Western Australia.
While grateful to have a roof over their heads, the accommodation isn’t a permanent solution for the family.
“Four of us living in one room with no air-conditioning or privacy is pretty challenging. We share kitchen and bathroom facilities with the other caravan park users, and due to the transient nature of guests you are pretty much living among people you don’t know. I have to be vigilant with the safety of my children and constantly supervise them when they go to the bathroom or want to get a glass of water.”
And while the accommodation is cheaper than renting in Perth, the move and regional cost of living makes life just as expensive.
“Food is more expensive here, and then fuel usage and cost is more as I am obviously having to drive longer distances to school and shops. There is limited access to healthcare and supportive services where we are too.”
Assisting Anthea with the financial strain of single-handedly raising a family in today’s cost of living, has been a Financial Wellbeing Collective financial counsellor from Partner agency Uniting WA.
“I was ashamed to be asking for help at first and wasn’t too sure how he would be able to help me as I was already very savvy with my budget. But I quickly realised there was nothing to be ashamed of – that there are brilliant financial counsellors helping people every day.
“My financial counsellor presented me with options when I thought I had none. He guided me on some things I could do myself while he set about advocating for me in other areas. He also connected me with other supportive services which have assisted me.
But what meant the most to me, during a spiralling time of my life, was that he made me feel not alone. I had someone to help and support me in a completely non-judgemental way and that was everything to me – it gave me hope.”
And what Anthea hopes for most for is to be able to provide her children with a stable home.
“I want my kids to feel secure, be settled at one school, to have routine, and to maintain a strong support network of friends as they grow up.”
We don’t think Anthea is asking for too much. But sadly, Anthea’s story is one of many in our community – families impacted by housing insecurity due to housing shortage and unaffordability.
If you’re experiencing financial stress, free support is available at:
Financial Wellbeing Collective
