I’ve been forced to sleep on a single mattress with my two kids because of my face tattoo | The Sun
A SINGLE dad-of-two has been forced to sleep on a single mattress with his two kids because of a tattoo on his face.
Ash Brown, 32, said he's been rejected from 360 rentals but insists his face tattoo isn't to blame.
The Aussie dad and his two kids have been homeless for five months and have been forced to sleep on a single mattress of his mum's place in Adelaide.
Ash blames the huge demand for rentals for his situation and revealed he is regularly forced to compete against more than 50 people at property inspections.
As a single parent, he struggles to compete against families with multiple incomes and is adamant his housing problem has nothing to do with the ink on his face following social media backlash after a TV interview.
"They don't give me any reasons," he told the Daily Mail Australia.
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"They just never contact me back. It's because of the rental crisis.
"Every inspection I go to, there are at least 50 to 60 other people there applying for the same houses – and I dare say a lot of these are multiple income families and households.
"People on social media have been saying 'oh its because of your face tattoo' but this isn't the case.
"Not once have I ever been visually judged by any real estate agent because of my tattoos. In all honesty, the only judgement I have ever received for my tattoos has been since the interview on Channel 7.
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"And the thing about that is, it's there for a reason, the tattoo that is. It says 'Blessed'.
"I got it when I became a single father, and had to start raising my kids on my own."
He said being a solo parent was "very new to me and difficult" and that he also battled depression and wanted "wanted something to remind me every time I looked in the mirror exactly what it is I'm fighting for. Which is my two kids."
In the Channel 7 interview, he also added: "We really wanted to be in a home by my son's fifth birthday.
"I feel like I'm failing my kids by not being able to provide them with a home even though I'm doing everything I possibly can."
Ash's son Benjamin celebrated his fifth birthday Tuesday and was taken to a hotel so they could enjoy a change of scenery.
"I went to three property inspections today and the same story at each one, between 40 and 60 people there, and obviously some of these people are in a better position financially than me," he said.
"I know I will be overlooked yet again. I have always paid my rent weeks in advance. I have good references. My previous rental was 5 years at the same place. The only reason we had to leave was the owner wanted to renovate and then sell the property.
"I am desperate to find myself and my kids a place to call home. I have even written multiple letters to the state premier which have gone unanswered, and 13 other members of parliament."
According to Believe Housing Australia's Executive General Manager Michelle Gegenhuber, more Australians are on the verge of homelessness than before the pandemic.
Another study, by charity Anglicare Australia, found that only eight of the 6,000 rental listing across the country were affordable for a person on government benefits.
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For full time workers on a minimum wage, 778 rents were affordable, and for those on the Age Pension, just 336 were affordable.
The average house rent in Australia's state and territory capitals jumped by 16.3 per cent to $657 (£372) a week in the past year, according to SQM Research.
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