Tauranga mum

PHOTO: Rental agencies in the city say finding a home is the hardest it’s been in decades and tenancy reforms are compounding the issue. Source: 1 NEWS

A Tauranga mother of four says she will be homeless in several weeks and claims she’s being discriminated against in the rental market because she has children.

Rental agencies in the city say finding a home is the hardest it’s been in decades and tenancy reforms are compounding the issue.

“I’ve had moments where I’ve felt I’ve failed as mother because I couldn’t provide a roof over my children’s head,” Stephanie Peeni said.

She says she has good references and is willing to pay $750 a week but while applying for numerous properties over the last few weeks, she was shocked to discover an email from an agent.

“The email said, ‘Sorry, your application was unsuccessful. They don’t want a family’ and I just cried.”

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