She has spent the past six months living in “substandard” rental conditions with mould on the ceiling in most rooms, rising damp in the bedrooms, a millipede plaque, broken windows, and holes and cracks in the asbestos-clad walls.

Her search for new accommodation has been even more disheartening with few rental properties available, and her applications to any suitable properties constantly met with knockbacks.

She is even more frustrated by the fact that she receives no feedback regarding the reasons behind the rental refusals.

“The only response I ever get is just keep trying,” she said.

Ms Fabian said she moved from the Gold Coast to the Southern Highlands 18 months ago for a better life for herself and two young sons.

Friends who lived in Wingello offered her accommodation until she found a suitable home, and she decided a tree change would be ideal for her sons, aged 11 and 12.

Ms Fabian said it was a move that at first seemed ideal. She lived on her friends’ property for about six months and then took on the role as live-in manager at the Ivy Tudor in Bowral until it closed for redevelopment.

That’s where her problems began.

“I struggled to find somewhere new to live and, in the end, I settled on my current substandard house just to get my foot in the local rental door,” she said.

For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Friday, September 5

jackie.meyers@ruralpress.com