The rental crisis has hit a devastating new low, forcing one young couple to break their family apart and raise their 10-week-old baby in a tent.
For the last six weeks, Tia-Rose Hutchins and her partner Callum Adam have been living in a cramped campervan tent, forced to move every few days.
They were left with no other options to camp when they lost their $600-a-week rental home in Balcatta after the owner decided to sell.
Since then, they have made 120 unsuccessful applications for other rental properties and even offered up to $800 per week to secure a new home.
Their plight comes amid the State’s worst-ever rental crisis, with vacancy rates as low as 0.8 per cent.
Ms Hutchins, 25, believes they persistently miss out on rentals because they do not have the all-important history reference from their previous home, which had been leased in her father’s name.
Not only are the couple having to cope with raising a newborn in their makeshift home, but they also have to make the excruciating decision to split up their family.
Given a lack of space, Mr Adam, 27, decided to send his two primary school-aged children from a previous relationship to live with relatives in the country.
Ms Hutchins did the same with her three-year-old daughter.
The decision was particularly difficult for Ms Hutchins, who sent her eldest to live with her daughter’s father, with whom she is currently locked in a custody dispute.
Ms Hutchins said she and her partner were struggling emotionally without their children.
“It was really tough to make the decision . . . but we don’t want our children bouncing around like we do,” she said.
“The girls are always asking when they can see each other and when they can see us. We all miss each other so much.
“I really struggle with what this is doing to (baby) Onyx’s development.
“We can do tummy time in the tent, but once he starts crawling and walking, he won’t have the space he needs and deserves.
“And that is really getting to me.
“As my children’s mother, this is my job, and I’m failing miserably.”
Ms Hutchins has also been on the social housing list since her daughter was born three years ago, with both the Department of Housing and the Department of Communities aware of her living circumstances.
She met with a staff member for her local MP, David Michael, who wrote to the Department of Housing requesting urgent accommodation. Mission Australia has also advocated on her behalf.
Despite Mr Adam’s secure work as a labourer earning $250 a day and Ms Hutchins’ Centrelink payments, they say they can not compete with dozens of other wealthier applicants at every home open.
“We turn up to home inspections, and we are competing against double-income and triple-income families, some of them fly-in, fly-out workers,” she said.
“They are in a much better position than we are, and sometimes they offer to pay $1000 a week for a property.”
Soco realty agent Ashliegh Goodchild said many people, including former homeowners, struggled to secure a lease without a rental history.
“It is the number one thing that property managers look for,” she said.
“I would argue it is even more important than having a job.”
The crisis, however, was more generally due to the housing undersupply, with only 1450 houses and 650 units listed for rent in Perth — a city of 2.3 million people — on the REIWA website.
Ms Hutchins said it was even challenging to secure a spot at a camping ground because they required a pet-friendly place for her support dog.
“How long we stay really depends on the availability of space at the caravan park and the manager’s mood,” she said.
They are prepared to live anywhere in Perth but would prefer the northern suburbs if given the choice and would prefer a rent of $600 or less each week. Their only non-negotiable requirement is to be in the metropolitan area for Callum’s work.
Ms Hutchins plans to return to work in retail or hospitality when her newborn is old enough for childcare.
For now, they spend their days in their 10sqm tent, cooking over a camping stove or using the caravan park’s kitchen facilities.
In the afternoons, they turn their small heater on before the sun goes down to prevent temperatures from dipping on the increasingly cold nights.
And then in the mornings, they again begin their fruitless search for a rental property.