The current economic situation in the world is bleak. The global economy is still recovering because of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis, according to the IMF. Australia is among other advanced economies that continue to face challenges in the economic sector.
A living and breathing example of the current housing crisis in Perth is this single mother. Jakki Brooking, a registered nurse, went to TikTok to tell her story. Right before Christmas, her landlord doubled the rent for her and her 6-year-old son from $300 to $630. The mom admitted that they might be facing homelessness soon and asked the Internet for suggestions.
Personal financial troubles can only get worse in single-parent households
Image credits: Keira Burton (not the actual image)
This 28-year-old mother fears she and her son won’t have a home anymore after the landlord doubled her house rent
Image credits: jakkibrooking
Basically, I’ve lived in my rental for six years. And the house that I live in now is part of the NRAS scheme. Well, it was when I first started renting it. So they keep rent affordable for low income earners.
The house was recently sold and the new owners didn’t want to go ahead with the same low income scheme.
So they’ve chosen to increase the rent from $300, which is what I’m paying now, to $630 a week. I obviously can’t afford to pay that.
Image credits: jakkibrooking
I feel so f*****g stupid doing this s**t. I’m a single parent, like, contacting my real estate agent trying to be like… trying to find somewhere else to go.
My lease is up on the first of January. I’ve applying for houses and I’ve been getting rejected for all of them.
There was another rental available that was also part of the NRAS scheme. If you transfer from one NRAS property to another, it doesn’t count as an existing tenant.
Image credits: jakkibrooking
So I’m a new tenant and there’s different income limits. In my last email to the real estate agent, I think I said something along the lines of… I told her, ‘I have been applying for houses. I’ve been getting rejected for all of them. Like, we’re facing homelessness from the end of the lease because I can’t afford to pay the $630.’
And her response to that was that if I don’t vacate the premises by the first of January, then the owners can take me to court.
Image credits: jakkibrooking
I work as a registered nurse at one of the hospitals in Perth. I have a permanent contract. I just don’t know what I’m meant to do at this point.
Like, this is literally so embarrassing. I have somewhere for Levi to go from the end of the lease if we can’t find anywhere between now and then.
Image credits: jakkibrooking
I need to find somewhere for our cat and dog to go, rent a storage unit to put all our stuff in. Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I’ve been sitting here for 20 minutes now so I better go inside.
Image credits: Emil Kalibradov (not the actual image)
The single mom shared her story on TikTok and her video got 392k views
@jakkibrooking The Perth rental crisis is hitting hard – landlords are greedy – real estates are apathetic. #perthrentalcrisis #rentalcrisis #homeless #singleparent #registerednurse #registerednurseperth #rnperth #nurse #perthnurses #perthsinglemum #rentaustralia #rentalcrisisaustralia @A Current Affair @PerthNow ♬ original sound – Jakki BrookingPeople in the comments were sympathetic and offered some advice
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