I’m a mum & raising my four kids in my CAR because I can’t get a house – we’re using blankets on the windows for privacy
A MUM has been left living in her car with her four children after finding it impossible to get a house.
The family, from Ipswich, Australia, have been emotionally and physically exhausted and distressed from their ordeal.
Shikera Maher and her teenage children have been living in their car for over five weeks now.
They have been desperately trying to search for accommodation, but the lack of rental properties in the area has left them homeless, and Shikera at her wits' end.
In the time they have been homeless, Shikera has had almost 300 housing applications rejected.
Before living in her car, the mum and her children, aged 13, 15-year-old twins, and 18, were living with friends for weeks at a time.
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But the domestic abuse survivor said the stress of constantly moving was too difficult given the size of the family and how most of her friends live in small houses.
Due to living in the car, the children had to stop going to school for a period of time as it was too difficult for them to concentrate or do their homework.
Speaking to the , Shikera said: "I don't wish the situation on anyone, not even my worst enemy.
"It's not a way to live, driving from one park to another because we can't stay in the same place.
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"It’s a very hard situation. We have to hang blankets on the car windows at night so people don’t look in."
The mum has tried to contact rental agencies to see why her applications are being denied but have so far not had an explanation.
She said she had the money to pay a bond and rent which would be around $430 per week.
The mum-of-four claims she is not eligible for public housing as one of her children, aged eight at the time, damaged their last home provided by the government in 2012 and she is still paying off the debt.
In the meantime, Shikera and her children are on a waiting list for crisis accommodation, while she sleeps in her car and uses friends' bathrooms to wash.
Currently, she sleeps in the driver's seat, her 18-year-old sleeps in the front passenger seat, and the three younger children sleep in the back with the family's belongings.
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While the family has been offered temporary accommodation in a motel outside the city, Shakira has turned it down it due to her kids needing to go to school and already paying $30 on fuel a night to keep the car warm.
The Daily Mail reports that along with many other cities across Australia, rents are going up in Ipswich and its vacancy rate is at 0.9%, a historical low.
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