Young mother Tomeeka Tomlinson has been denied a rental home 280 TIMES after being left with nothing

A young mother has been left desperately searching for a new home after becoming ‘stranded’ when her partner was killed in a crash. 

Tomeeka Tomlinson was 16 weeks pregnant when she was left with no house and no transport following the death of her partner from a motorbike accident in June last year.

The 19-year-old soon had to find a new home and began the arduous journey of applying for a rental across Brisbane, Queensland. 

She has called Queensland’s rental crisis ‘shocking’ and claims she’s been rejected from 280 rental properties so far.

Tomlinson told the Courier Mail she ‘started looking for rentals’ eight months ago but was ‘continuously knocked back’.

‘I have applied for over 280 houses around Redbank Plains, Redbank, Goodna, Augustine Heights, Springfield, Riverview, Yamanto, Brassall and so many more including [National Rental Affordability Scheme] NRAS applications,’ she revealed.

Tomlinson currently lives at her overcrowded family home with her young son, now six-months-old, as she continues sending out applications.   

She said the ‘state of the rental crisis’ in Brisbane is ‘shocking’ and has made her feel worried about her future. 

‘The amount of house inspections I’ve had to drag myself and my son to, it seems the rental market at the moment is leaving struggling families with children in need of housing on the streets,’ she added. 

It comes just weeks after a homeless single mum revealed she was at her wits’ end after also being rejected from rentals almost 300 times.   

Tomlinson says the ‘state of the rental crisis’ in Brisbane is ‘shocking’ and has made her feel worried about her future

 It comes just weeks after a homeless single mum Shikera Maher (pictured) revealed she was at her wits’ end after also being rejected from rentals almost 300 times

Shikera Maher and her four teenage children from Ipswich spent March and February living in her car while they searched for somewhere to live.

Before that, Ms Maher and her children – aged 13, 15-year-old twins, and 18 – were living with friends for weeks at a time.   

But the domestic violence survivor said the constant moving was too hard given the size of the family and how most of her friends live in small houses or units. 

The family use friends’ bathrooms to take daily showers 

‘I don’t wish the situation on anyone, not even my worst enemy,’ Ms Maher told Daily Mail Australia.

‘It’s not a way to live, driving from one park to another because we can’t stay in the same place.’

‘I’ve asked countless time whether it’s because my application.’

The hundreds of rejections have mostly not been explained to her. Owners and agencies just had other, preferred applicants who could pay higher rent for their properties. 

She said it’s not a lack of funds that is the problem. ‘I have the money to pay the rent and bond,’ Ms Maher said.

‘It’s a very hard situation. We have to hang blankets on the car windows at night so people don’t look in,’ she said.

‘I sleep in the driver’s seat, the 18 year-old is in the front with me while the other three sleep in the back seat with all of our belongings.’

‘There are many meltdowns a day and constant fighting being stuck in the car all day.’ 

The family lived in their car (pictured) after being rejected almost 300 times for rental properties in the Ipswich region

The family is looking for a four-bedroom house in Ipswich, which on average costs $430 per week to rent in the area, with a bonds of around $1043.

Ms Maher is not eligible for public housing, she said, because she owes a debt she has not yet paid after one of her children, who was then aged 8, ‘smashed’ their last place provided by the department in 2012.

Ms Maher and her family are on a waiting list for crisis accommodation but are yet to secure anything.  

She pleaded for landlords and real estate agents to have empathy for single parents and low income earners

‘All we want is a roof over our heads and for our family to be safe again, even if the kids have to switch schools,’ she said. 

Purple Cow Real Estate Springfield Lakes director Andy Nutton told the Courier Mail that the number of homes available for rent is far outweighed by the number of people looking for a home.  

‘Some factors influencing the shortage in supply is a reduction of investors entering the market or investment properties being sold to owner-occupiers in the recent property boom, as well as pressures in the building industry causing delays to new builds being available,’ he said.

Nutton claims that a ‘high level of migration’ into the sunshine state has also pushed demand as well.  

Widespread flooding in Queensland has been a major factor in the critical shortage of homes. (Pictured: Flood affected properties in Ipswich in March)

Another major factor in the critical shortage of homes is the recent flooding and wild wet weather that devastated Brisbane and parts of Queensland. 

Many residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the floods have either moved into, or are seeking, new places to live temporarily.

‘Flooding in big cities like Brisbane, as well as in regional areas, mean that many homes have become uninhabitable or require a lot of work,’ says Ray White’s chief economist Nerida Conisbee. 

‘More people will require rental accommodation, as well as there now being fewer rental properties.’  

Conisbee added that Australia’s rent costs were also now increasing at the fastest pace since the Global Financial Crisis 14 years ago.