A young Perth mum has shed tears while describing how homelessness has ripped her family apart.
She is desperate to provide a safe sanctuary for her three children but is forced to live out of a car with her youngest child, who is just four months of age.
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Kristin Vandenbosch was forced out of her rental two weeks after a caesarean birth when her landlord decided to sell the property — and she’s had no luck finding a new place.
“It’s not something I’d wish on anyone. You can’t make a family go through that,” she said.
“Even rentals, being told I can’t afford that. It’s not fair.”
Vandenbosch’s older children spend the school week with relatives while she and her youngest live out of her car.
She is forced to book a hotel room or rent short-stay accommodation just to reunite the family.
With few alternatives, Vandenbosch has been forced to camp out at local parks.
“I can guarantee you it’s not a safe area. There are a lot of bad things that happen. Imagine getting broken into while I’m asleep in my car. That’s my nightmare,” she said.
‘Simply inexcusable’
There are currently 19,000 families on WA’s social housing waitlist, with wait times ballooning out to more than two years.
More than 4000 households are on the priority list, where the average wait time is still 43 weeks.
“It’s simply inexcusable that in a state as prosperous as ours that we have less social housing than we did when this government came to office,” Liberal leader Libby Mettam said.
In January Shelter WA chief executive Kath Snell said housing stress was being felt right across WA.
“From metro areas to the regions, too many residents in Western Australia are experiencing homelessness, living in overcrowded homes, or experiencing housing stress,” Snell said.
Housing Minister John Carey said the government has committed to building 3300 new social housing dwellings homes, with 943 delivered.
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