Home is one room for a family of six

By Callan Date
TWO tragic events have left a Doveton family of six living in a cold and run-down one-room bungalow for the last six weeks.
Bev Akar and her partner Sam, along with their four children under the age of 10, have lived in the make-shift house since their Dandenong rental property was partially destroyed by fire in March.
The family lost the majority of their belongings in the blaze, which Ms Akar said was started by a malfunctioning ducted heating system.
Any hope the Akar family had of quickly moving back into their Dandenong house were dashed when their landlord suffered a tragedy of his own.
Ms Akar, 36, said the owner of the Dandenong house was on his way to see the damage when he was told his family had been involved in a fatal collision in Lynbrook.
“We are sleeping in a one-room bungalow and all the kids have are the clothes on their back and that’s it,” Ms Akar said.
“The house wasn’t totally destroyed but because it (the fire) was underneath the floorboards they had to rip them up.”
A family friend has offered the use of the Doveton bungalow until they can find something more permanent.
But that may take some time.
Ms Akar said she had faced many challenges while trying to arrange a rental property for her family to move into.
“The landlords take one look at four small kids and they think that they are going to trash the place.
“I have been honest in telling them that our last house burnt down and that it was a ducted heated malfunction, but nobody seems to want to listen.”
Ms Akar said they had tried to get into both public and private housing – with no luck.
Opposition Minister for Housing Wendy Lovell said the public housing waiting list had escalated since December 2007.
“Victoria’s public housing waiting list leapt to a staggering 35,394 in the March quarter, an increase of 522 families since December,” Ms Lovell said.
“Of even greater concern are the 7494 families on the ‘early housing’ waiting list which increased by 203 families during the quarter, as these families are at risk of recurring homelessness or coping with a disability or special housing need.”
Ms Akar said both she and her partner were on Centrelink benefits and were finding it hard to get by financially.
“We did get $1000 from a disaster relief grant but that was used for temporary accommodation before we got into the bungalow.”
She said the Doveton accommodation was only available for a limited time and they would need to find something fast before the chilly bite of winter started to hit home.
“We’re not homeless by choice, our house caught fire and we just need another place to move into.”