Caravan parks are seeing increasing calls from people as house prices skyrocket

ABC NEWS (Australia)

As house prices skyrocket, Queenslanders priced out of the east coast are looking inland for options to keep a roof over their head. Caravan parks are fielding increasing calls from people desperate for a place to live.

Transcript

00:00It's always lovely to be surrounded by your plants. They bring a lot of joy, don't they?

00:07Laurel Soderberg has made her caravan a home.

00:10I never ever thought I would be living in a caravan park.

00:16The 78-year-old was pushed out of her Lockyer Valley home by rising rent.

00:21She scraped together to buy a caravan and now lives at Heloden, 19 kilometres outside Toowoomba.

00:28Once primarily for tourists, this park is now full of permanent residents.

00:33We have had families here living in tents because that's their only option.

00:3926 more sites are being added to the park and it's still not enough.

00:44We're full.

00:46It's really scary. I'm almost 50 years old and I'm homeless.

00:51Priced out of the Gold Coast and living on a disability pension,

00:55Margo Hyde and her husband Andy have also turned to full-time caravan life.

01:00Their hopes to rent in Toowoomba dashed.

01:03What are we supposed to do? There's nothing.

01:06And what there is, you can't afford it.

01:09Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley have historically been more affordable than Queensland's coast.

01:14But rising house and rental prices are pushing more people to seek short or permanent stays in caravan parks like this one.

01:21Look across the last five years, collectively, properties are up around 90%.

01:27Further adding to the squeeze, homes in Toowoomba had the highest median price growth in Queensland over the past year.

01:34Up 17% to more than $800,000.

01:38The changing face of housing.

01:39The changing face of housing.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended