A woman who has been living in a tent in a Stockton backyard for six months says she has had no success finding a rental, despite having a double income and a $700 weekly rental budget.
Kate Parker moved from Forster to Stockton in December to be closer to her 18-year-old daughter.
"We wanted to be a support system for her because she suffers with anxiety," Ms Parker said.
While she and her partner were without jobs, Ms Parker's father offered to let them and their 12-year-old daughter stay in a tent in the backyard.
Ms Parker said they were unable to stay inside her father's home due to his medical condition and the risk of passing on colds, flus or other illnesses.
The couple quickly gained employment, but have been unable able to find a rental.
Ms Parker said she was geographically limited to the Stockton and Fern Bay areas as she did not drive and walked to work. She also has two dogs which she believed put her at a disadvantage for gaining a rental.
Despite this, she has been surprised her $700 a week budget hasn't yielded success, having applied for six houses in the past two weeks alone.
"We knew it'd be hard but we didn't think we'd be waiting this long," Ms Parker said.
CoreLogic data shows Stockton's rental vacancy rate dropped from 0.8 per cent in December 2022 to 0.3 per cent in January and February, before rising to 1.3 per cent in April.
The suburb's median weekly rent price has risen by 5.4 per cent in the past year to $651.
Across the Newcastle local government area, the vacancy rate sat at 1.1 per cent in April - its lowest point since April 2022.
The wet and rainy nights in recent weeks had made Ms Parker's camping situation more difficult, she said, and meant she had to send her daughter to stay with her brother temporarily.
"It gets to you mentally," she said.
"My daughter's one of those kids who will bring home every bug, and she's been quite ill with the flu so we had to send her down to her brother's for a couple of nights. He just lives in a little bedsit.
"Hubby and I are fighting off a cold. We're both trying to sleep rugged up."
Ms Parker said she knew of others facing similar situations, including one person who has three months to move out of her current place.
"She said she's on top of it and has been trying ever since she found out, but they're just too small or there is that many people there that you walk out and go 'I'm not gonna be bother' because you know that you're either going to get a knock back or they're just not going to worry about answering you.
"I said 'keep going, keep applying' because they know how tough we've been doing it."
In the meantime, Ms Parker said she had tried to immerse herself in the Stockton community, where she lived as a child. She helps out with junior league while her husband has joined the local board riders club.
"We just try to keep ourselves occupied and keep applying until we get a yes," she said.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Join the discussion in the comment section below.
Find out how to register or become a subscriber here.
