Woman forced to move into micro-cabin due to sky-high rent faces homelessness

19 January 2024 , 14:47

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Single mum Elizabeth Illing says she fears for her family's future (Image: KVUE)

A woman who was forced to move into a tiny micro-cabin because of sky-high rent says she now faces homelessness after the rates rocketed on her new accommodation.

Elizabeth Illing switched to the Casata in Austin, Texas, with her daughter as she battled rising costs. She moved in February 2022 after getting fed up on paying too much for her home, and has been paying $1,340 with utilities at a rate of $150. She was happy to live a more affordable life - but bad news was around the corner.

The mum has now been told she'll have to now pay $1,700 and says she can't afford the $360 extra every month. Being forced to consider her options, she says they could soon have nowhere to live. Ms Illing says she wanted to stay in the area long-term but her hopes are in tatters and she now fears for their future.

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Casata's CEO Aaron Levy has defended the rise in rent (KVUE)

She was interviewed on KVUE and said: "It's just really sad because I saw myself being here long term. I didn't want to uproot my daughter. I wanted us to be here, and now I can't afford to live here anymore. I grew up in a small town. I wanted to be able to let my kid go outside and play. I've had help from churches, I've gotten help from family members. I've actually had unforeseen extra expenses in my own personal life recently. It's a struggle monthly."

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Responding, Casata CEO Aaron Levy defended the rise and said the community's rates are "directly comparable" to rent for apartments nearby. He told them: "We know that in the first year of our operation, we were actually running at a loss because we were giving away a lot to the resident.

She moved in because of rent rises elsewhere and was met with the same issue months later (KVUE)

"But cost of living unfortunately is what it is. If you lived in a tiny home and were expecting to pay tiny rent, where are you located and what kind of amenities do you get with that? It's very challenging to keep true affordability and attainability and get all the benefits of all the things that you see around you that you want."

It comes as other residents claim landlords are attempting to hike their rent by $800.Austin Mayor Kirk Watson spoke about the situation, saying: "We have a significant affordability crisis, and it is an emergency. We've got a supply and demand problem, and we're going to have to come up with unique and different ways than we've thought of in the past to solve it."

Sam Elliott-Gibbs