Bringing a newborn home is supposed to be one of life's joyous occasions, but for one Melbourne father, it has been a nightmare.

Jai Leigh* says he has been forced to send his son away, for fear of him getting sick in the mould-infested Cranbourne public housing Jai has been living in since becoming homeless eight years ago.

He says he has been locked in a battle with the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) to fix the “unliveable” house — a campaign he ramped up when his then-partner became pregnant last year.

"I'm sick consistently, like, coughing up blood,” Jai says. "As soon as you walk in the house, all you smell is black mould — it’s bad.”

The new father is just one of the public housing residents fighting for much-needed repairs, with the Victorian Ombudsman’s investigation into the complaints system last month highlighting broader systemic problems. These residents are at the forefront of the dual cost-of-living and housing crises and have nowhere else to go.

Jai says DFFH Dandenong, which is responsible for the state-subsidised housing, is not resolving his complaint and has refused to organise alternative lodgings for the family.

He says his ex-partner had to seek a mould-free home elsewhere with the baby, after he was born in December, with a caravan park in Dromana the only option — though both parents still pay rent at the Cranbourne house. 

“They're not talking about reimbursing us. They're not talking about paying for nothing,” Jai says.

"We were gonna co-parent, but now with all the stress of the house, she can’t live here,” he says. “I refuse to have [the baby] here.”

A DFFH spokesperson says the department is taking the complaint seriously after it was made in October last year, but the tenants had failed to provide access to the property “on more than six occasions”.

“The department attempted to investigate and address the issue quickly,” they say. “While some works are now completed, others are still being delayed due to lack of access.”

Jai says the tradespeople sent to his home only do quick fixes, like putting up new blinds, but would not address the mould.

“They just want to put new plaster over it and go about their day. And because I'm saying no to that, they're having problems,” he says.

"You're gonna put brand new blinds when the mould is still there? It blows my mind.”

Jai said in mid-March that the department hadn’t returned his calls for four weeks, with his pleas for help becoming increasingly desperate.

“I don't get any messages back; I can't make a complaint. I can't do anything,” he said.

“I've called the Parliament House, I've spoken to the local MPs, I've called pretty much everyone that I can think of.

"As soon as I mention it's DFFH housing, nobody wants to help me.”

A DFFH spokesperson says: “The department is continuing to communicate with the tenants to try to have the works completed as soon as possible.”

Jai is not alone in the frustrating wait for social housing repairs in Victoria.

Complaints to the Victorian Ombudsman about social housing have risen 83 per cent in the past two years, according to a report released by the Ombudsman in March.

The scathing review — a follow-up to a report tabled by Ombudsman Deborah Glass in 2022 — told of public housing residents at their wits’ end waiting for repairs, with no avenue for recourse.

One renter in her 60s was forced to use a bucket in her backyard as a toilet, the report states. Another resident was ignored for weeks while mice plagued her home, biting her as she slept. 

Glass said in a press release that recommendations made to the Victorian Government in the 2022 report to fix the complaints system had largely been ignored.

“The systemic issues are not going away,” Glass said. 

“Change is now even more critical, as Victorians grapple with dual housing and cost-of-living crises.”

A DFFH spokesperson says the department acknowledged the report and “has made progress implementing the recommendations”, including establishing a local maintenance crew.

They say all residents deserve to have their complaints managed effectively, and DFFH has also commissioned an external review and is acting on its resulting 25 recommendations.

For Jai, the ongoing mould infestation has consumed not only his home, but much of his life.

Mould is a type of fungus that can cause hayfever-like symptoms, but prolonged exposure can lead to more severe outcomes like chronic asthma or respiratory infections, according to the Victorian Government's Better Health Channel. 

Jai says he wakes up with congestion in his airways “every single day”, with doctors saying he has an infection in his body.

“My dog's sick, I'm sick … It's not good for any of us,” he says.

Terrified of leaky plumbing causing more water damage, and with everything in the house exposed to mould spores, he says he hasn't been able to use the house’s shower for almost three months.

Feeling isolated and humiliated, the former steel fabricator says he could not provide for his family if he could not get a job.

“No one's going to hire somebody who can't keep up with their basic hygiene,” he says. “I'm kind of pushing myself away from everybody; I just feel dirty 24/7.”

But he says the worst part is being separated from his newborn.

“If I had a house, I'd be able to have him,” Jai says. “[But] he can't be brought up in here. It hurts.”

Jai says he is now on a waitlist for a new property, but “God knows” when it will come through.

"They say we're at the top of the list, but they keep saying there's no houses available," he says. "It's crazy, something needs to change about the housing system.”

Jai is one of thousands of Victorians enduring the consequences of the housing crisis gripping the state.

According to the Ombudsman report, there were more than 51,000 outstanding applications for a home on the Victorian Housing Register in September last year.

In Pakenham, housing advocate Angel Chichi says she has been overwhelmed by requests for help in recent months. 

“It's just constant,” she says.

The charity op shop volunteer says she is a last resort for people who have been told there is no housing available.

“They're just pushing families from one service to another,” Chichi says. “It’s just shocking … You don't realise how bad it is until you're in it.”

She says the stress of her work had even put her in hospital with irregular heart rhythms, where a social worker told her she should take a step back.

“I said, how can I? I'm not prepared to shut my doors … That's just another service lost in the community.”

On Chichi’s mind is the family of five who have been living in a tent for a year, and the schoolteacher who has weeks left on her lease and nowhere else to go.

She says the majority of families — often single-parents — who come to her have been asked to leave their rental because the landlord is selling the property.

“They're the ones that are facing homelessness,” she says.

Data from real estate analytics company Suburbtrends showed a 4 per cent jump in ex-rentals hitting the market in the first two months of 2024, compared with the same period in 2023, squeezing an already-tight market.

Chichi says she has resorted to asking locals to open their homes to keep families off the streets, but such community support is not a sustainable solution.

“Why should it be put onto the public?” she says. “It does become a government responsibility.”

She says MPs avoid her calls or give her excuses that range from it not being their responsibility to a lack of workers and materials available.

But Chichi says the government should consider more innovative, immediate fixes instead of pledging millions of dollars for brick-and-mortar houses that won’t be seen for years.

“I don't even understand why they're not trying to implement solutions,” she says.

Chichi says suggestions she has made to MPs include building cheaper, mobile tiny-houses to sit on vacant land, making deals to fill rooms in otherwise empty motels, reviewing public housing application requirements, or repurposing empty buildings like the Mickleham Covid-19 quarantine facility that had sat empty for more than 18 months — all to no avail.

“I want a solution right now,” she says.

“I don't want to see any family living in a tent, especially with kids.”

Meanwhile, Jai says he will continue to fight to make his home safe.

"I just want my baby to be secure,” he says. “Something needs to be done, it's not fair for anyone.”

* Jai Leigh is his preferred name, but Leigh is not his registered surname.