“In December 2018, the relationship I was in deteriorated such that I was left homeless. Borrowing a friend’s unfurnished studio apartment until I then moved into a sharehouse a friend and her partner owned and lived in. Things were going along okay until the pandemic hit, when 3 adults in a house, working and studying from home all became a bit much and I decided to look for my own place.
I found a former housing trust house with 3 bedrooms, in the hope that I’d get some kind of custody/access to my 3 boys at $290.00a week, just under the $300.00 Housing SA approved the bond for. I got the keys on a Sunday, on the condition that I sort the bond the following day. After gathering the paperwork together I sent it in with no issues, and went to collect the cheque. I’d been previously advised that there was a small amount still owing (a result of my ex being kicked out of the house we’d been in together as a married couple). I offered to make modest repayments on it to clear, however I’d just lost my hours at my job due to the lockdown, but would be getting the additional $550.00 pandemic supplement in my Austudy to cover that. “I’m sorry, we can’t help you into a house you can’t afford”. I’d already moved in.
I contacted the Minister who asked me to provide details on how I was going to afford it, which I then did. Only to find out that they were not counting the $550.00 as income, even though it was replacing my income. I was told this was supposed to stop people earning too much income and becoming unable to receive assistance, not as it was in my case, but with policy being policy. They couldn’t do anything about it and suggested instead I find someone to move in with me, completely defeating the purpose of renting a 3 bedroom house to get access to my kids.
I had already applied for my super drawdown, so once that was received I was able to pay the bond and rent. So despite a shaky start this got the ball rolling.
I moved in knowing the house was on the market, maintained the property for inspections, including facilitating at least 1 I wasn’t notified about. The house was sold, and settlement happened at the end of November 2020. Two days after settlement is where the problems started.
The bath pipes sprung a leak into the second bedroom, resulting in half the floor being lifted out and some particle board put in to cover the hole, as well as half the gyprock wall. The room became unusable, and moisture was found well into the hallway. We’d barely had this fixed when the shower pipes then blew resulting in the entryway being gutted for repairs. A dehumidifier was run for the better part of a week. I’d then asked the new real estate agent for a bit of rent relief, not feeling happy about paying for a 3 bedroom house when I could only use 2.
No such relief was forthcoming. We then spent months working with tradesmen coming in to make repairs as well as works related to the back of the house that had been subdivided from the original block.
Following that came the advice that the landlord wanted to raise the rent $40.00 – obviously in view of what had happened. This wasn’t the largest increase, but considering what we’d had to put up with, not something we were willing to pay given the circumstances (a position the real estate agent supported). We eventually agreed to a $20.00 increase, however he was fired by the landlord before it could be put in writing.
The new agent then told us the rent would be the higher rate from the offset when they took over. Until I then challenged it and asked if they had had evidence that we were provided that in writing, with 60 days notice? They assumed upon the advice that the lease would not be renewed, accompanied by a glowing reference from the agent was the letter. We were advised that it wasn’t, and that we would be happy to pay the increased rent 60 days from whenever we received appropriate notice.
This was met 5 minutes later with a 90 days no reason termination of lease. We then made use of a list of repairs we’d sent through that still hadn’t been attended to and took the landlord to SACAT, where we were granted a rent credit in lieu of what we’d been through. We also were then taken by the agent to SACAT regarding the vacate notice and granted an extension to the end of February, 2022.
We had by that stage already been looking and applying. In October, my new partner Claire* and 3 of her children had moved in, to get away from an ex that had threatened them up north, where the police, even having witnessed the threats, would not grant any protection orders. She didn’t feel safe, I had space, I told her to grab what she needed and come down.
We advised the agent at the time, just prior to the sale of the property, who left it to the new agent to act on, though nothing was ever formalised.
We then made use of friends in the real estate industry, and found out that our current agent had been badmouthing us when it came to giving references. Whilst not perfect, our rental history was okay, given the circumstances. Some of the issues with our ledger was more to do with agents not providing correct information to each other in the handovers of properties, more than it had to do with any payment issues on our end.
Channel 7 caught wind of our story via a post and wanted to cover a story on it. I was hesitant as ‘these things can backfire… and unfortunately did. My partner was working in a Government position, and I was working for The RAA and studying as a Uni student. We both have dreads and a nose ring each, and were told we’d get a house if we just took them out. That fell apart when the only time a landlord was present for an inspection was the closest we came – eventually missing out to a family member who was in need of a home.
We reached the point where it was clear we would not get a house prior to the vacate date as ordered by SACAT. So we started to pack up our stuff into storage, as well as in sheds at my partner’s Mum’s house. This was my partner’s former home, as her Mum had taken over the lease. Again, times being what they were, a lot of people who had then offered to help us move fell ill with Covid or were close contacts and were forced to isolate. We requested 1 more week to clear out the rubbish and were denied, when my partner was in Noarlunga at work, and I was at Elizabeth Grove, where we were temporarily couch surfing. My partner and a friend went past the house and grabbed anything final we needed and were left with no choice but to leave as is. I knew that meant that my bond would be gone, but it was what it was.
I couldn’t make money or time appear out of nowhere.
We continued to apply for houses, mostly north at that point but a few south as well. Our housing officer for Toward Home was based south and continued to help us, even though we’d moved. For 6 weeks after that my partner would drive from Elizabeth Grove to Noarlunga to get to work – I then got a job at the same place and joined her for the last 2 weeks until it became clear the travel wasn’t tenable, when petrol hit $2.00+ a litre. Our health wasn’t coping with the prolonged driving either.
Due to the timing of the SA elections, we had to vote south and I avoided all contact with anyone walking in, but my partner, not shy of saying a word or two, spoke to Nat Cook about the situation we had found ourselves in. She offered to help, which consisted of being offered advice from a housing officer, advice we had either already had or was irrelevant. Obviously in the months after the election, when the race became more important than housing. I was scathing in that their response to the housing crisis was all talk at that stage, until it became clear it wasn’t just all talk, but was all too little, not enough and too late.
In the end, we applied for 317 houses, about 27 of those my partner had applied for before we were together. The challenge of finding somewhere big enough under $450.00 a week that wasn’t falling apart. And there were plenty we didn’t apply for for that reason. We were offered a community house in Strathalbyn through Unity Housing and initially had said no. I still had a year of my uni course to finish, a lot of trips to the city for medical appointments for the kids etc. Eventually we were convinced to consider it, by which stage it had been offered to someone else. Fortunately for us she was unable to accept it and we were able to sign the lease and take the property.
I don’t regret the move regional, but there is a distinct lack of infrastructure, particularly on a medical front. Even in the nearest major town. Our current lease for where we are currently runs to the end of May 2024, which gives us a lot of stability and we can engage in the community, knowing we’re not here temporarily.” – Brian.
*Not their real name.
Anti-Poverty Network SA 