Rental crisis exacerbates Border man's mental health issues

The 51-year-old has been searching for a rental since October last year and the constant rejection notices from real estate companies is taking a heavy emotional toll.

"He's a ripper dog, I've sat at home and cried about it," Anthony says sadly.

"I don't know why it crosses my mind, but I'm thinking I can't get a place and part of the reason is my pet.

"They tell you that you can't be discriminated against now but I think you do."

Time after time, and without explanation, Anthony has found out he's not up to snuff, that his rental resume means he doesn't deserve a home.

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An obviously frustrated Anthony grapples with the idea that, because of his circumstances, he is unworthy of a roof over his head.

"I've put in so many applications and I just keep getting knocked back, one after the other," he says.

"You put in an application and an hour and a half later you get a text saying you're unsuccessful, when these houses have still got probably a month to go before they're rented out.

"It's been getting me down quite a bit, it's really depressive and I hide within myself because of it."

For years Anthony drove trucks to make his crust, until a heart condition and panic attacks forced him out of the profession.

Now on a disability pension, he believes the dice are loaded and applications are barely worth the effort.

"Because I'm on a pension they think I can't afford it, I'm affording where I am now - I put in for the bills, I buy my own food," he says.

"That's what I find interesting; why aren't I getting looked at, why do they knock me back every time?

"It looms over me and it gets you down.

"I'm going out a couple of days a week, I'm doing online applications all the time, I'm going into the real estate agents and getting the written applications.

"Why bother? I'm getting knock back after knock back, I just don't want to go out there and look."

The normally gregarious Anthony is now withdrawn, so drained from hearing nothing but no, day after day.

"I went out the other night to watch a pool comp and people came up and asked me how I am and I just stare through them," a visually defeated Anthony says.

"Then you start losing people because of that, because you feel bad about not getting a house and so you don't want to go out and see people."

At times Anthony shows flashes of the man he has been and wants to be again; the carefree and joyful Anthony who volunteers at the Wodonga Veterans club.

Anthony is almost child-like in his enthusiasm when speaking about what having his own home would mean.

"I'd be over the moon, I'd be ecstatic," he says beaming.

"I could hang my photos on the wall, put them on the mantelpiece, and I can get up and cook a nice meal when I want to.

"I can say welcome, this is my home and I can feel proud of it, pick me up off the ground a bit."

But inevitably, he comes crashing back down to earth when the reality of the situation sets in again.

He withdraws, eyes down, his voice pitched low and lifeless.

"I need to be given a chance, that's what it boils down to," he says.

"It makes me feel like a lesser person because I'm not getting these places."

Though Anthony has rented his whole life, his rental history still remains a black spot because his name hasn't been on a lease.

"I don't really have a recent rental history, I've just been couch surfing and living with friends," he admits.

"I've rented my whole life but because I wasn't on the lease it hasn't counted for much."

Anthony isn't an isolated case, his story is like so many others, filled with rejection and insecurity.

"A lot of friends of mine have been in houses here for years and they're getting eviction notices because the landlord wants to sell the house," he says.

Support services across the region are regularly hearing the same stories.

Community development manager with Junction Support Services Rachel Habgood says Anthony is far from alone in his struggles.

"People are moving away from the cities but there just isn't the stock for the demand that we have in private rentals but also in social housing," she says.

"We're not just talking about a single person, we're often talking about young mums, families with young children, elderly people.

"I think people often think a homeless person is the typical guy on the street you see in Melbourne, who's been living on the street long term, but homelessness has so many different faces."

Junction youth services manager Rhianna Jones says many of their clients have openly spoken about what constantly being denied rentals has done to them.

"Just the amount of people saying 'I just can't take another knock back from a real estate agent. I've applied for 20 or 30 properties and I just can't keep doing it,'" Ms Jones says.

"There's a family we're working with and they've applied for over 100 rentals.

"We're seeing a cohort of people who are coming through our services that are survivors of family violence who clearly articulate that because they're homeless they're having thoughts about reconciling with a partner who is really unsafe.

"In their world it's better to at least have a roof over their head or their children's heads as opposed to couch surfing or being in crisis accommodation."

Social housing is a solution for some, but with the multi-year waiting period, it isn't an option Anthony can consider.

With no shortage of friends willing to put their name behind his applications - some even willing to go guarantor - Anthony still gets those same texts:

"Unfortunately your application has been unsuccessful."

Even with all of this in front of him, and the knowledge there are so many others like himself struggling to find a home, he presses on because he has no choice.

"I've got to battle on," he says.

"There's not much out there but I'm going to go for the houses that are available, even as much as it's making me question myself.

"I have to do it, I've got to do it."

For now Anthony struggles on, applying for home after home, looking for a place he and Digger can call their own.

"In the next six to 12 months I'd like to see myself working again, with my own place, happy as Larry," he says.

"I just need someone to give me a go."

The search for a home has weakened Anthony, tested his resolve day in and day out, with desperation forcing him forward.

"I desperately need to get somewhere, it's going to put me further and further back in my state of mind," he says.

"I've even contemplated suicide, I've talked to counsellors about it ... it does get to that stage.

"I've got people out there who I love and I don't want to do that to them.

"I don't want to be in this hole, I need something and I need something now."