A young woman has revealed she has been forced to sleep in a van because she cannot afford to pay rent in Australia. Bec said she had no other choice but to live out of her vehicle in Wollongong, south of Sydney.
Economic Instability Driving Lifestyle Changes
'Certainly, if I were renting, my whole life would have to change, because I'd have to work more to earn more to be able to pay rent,' she told WIN News. 'So it's certainly like a lifestyle caused by economic instability to some extent.'
She explained how the situation is made worse by judgemental looks from locals. 'If people see a local car park full of vans, there's probably a negative stigma in my experience of being one of those vans in that car park,' she said. 'I think you'd be surprised at the highly intelligent, capable people,' she added.
Support Organisations Overwhelmed
Support organisations like Wollongong Homeless Hub are now helping nearly 50 people a month who are sleeping rough. Bec says that rent increases have forced her into full-time van living in Wollongong. Wollongong Homeless Hub CEO Mandy Booker said people were even sleeping on sand dunes and stairwells across the Illawarra region.
'Our outreach teams are definitely seeing an increase in people sleeping in their cars, particularly around the lakes and in the beach car parks,' she said. And it's not only young people who have been forced out of their homes. Ms Booker said her organisation helped a 71-year-old man who was declined temporary accommodation and ended up going back to sleeping in his car. 'He just simply has nowhere else to go,' she said. 'We actually need compassion.'
Australia's Rental Crisis Reaches Unprecedented Levels
Australia's rental crisis has reached unprecedented levels. National vacancy rates have plummeted to a critical one per cent as of April, with cities like Perth, Darwin and Hobart recording even lower rates of 0.4 to 0.5 per cent. Rents rose 2.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 alone, with tenants now spending a record 33.1 per cent of their gross income on housing costs.
Car parks are starting to be used by people living in vans because they can't afford to rent. A new Rental Affordability Snapshot from Anglicare Australia found that only 0.2 per cent of rentals were affordable for someone on the age pension. And a single minimum-wage worker could afford only 0.5 per cent of rental listings, while a couple on two minimum-wage incomes could afford only 14.8 per cent. Ten years ago, a couple earning two minimum wages could afford about 25 per cent of rentals.
Grey Nomad Witnesses Families in Cars
Grey nomad Rob has been living in his vehicle for nine years by choice and as he travels around, he notices car parks in the evenings turning into temporary asylums for families. 'You come down here at five in the afternoon, and there'll be women with children in cars parked here. They wait till the end of the day, and then they'll pull up, and they'll stay here overnight because there's nowhere to go,' he said.
Daily Mail contacted Wollongong Homeless Hub for comment.
