Aussie grandmother who complained to Housing Trust about possums in her roof learns a squatter had been living up there for 6 MONTHS and raiding her fridge as she slept

Published: 12:44, 11 June 2026 | Updated: 12:44, 11 June 2026 An elderly woman was horrified to discover a squatter living in her attic after she dismissed months of noises in the walls of her Housing Trust home as a possum problem. The Adelaide grandmother had an inkling there was an unwelcome guest since late last year because she was constantly hearing sounds at night.  Her cat had also grown increasingly agitated at something it perceived, but she was confident it was just a native animal that had made itself at home in her ceiling. 'I started hearing things in the roof, but at first I thought it was a possum,' she said. Some of her household items also went missing or were inexplicably moved to a different spot. When her toilet seat was left up and unflushed, she said she thought she was the one who caused it and had forgotten. 'Lots of different things or items went missing but I thought, no, maybe I've misplaced them,' she said.  She said she then called the South Australian Housing Trust to have the pest problem looked at, but infuriatingly staff never showed up to investigate.   'I told Housing so many times,' she said. 'Nobody was ever sent out.' An elderly woman was horrified to discover a squatter living in her ceiling despite hearing noises from the roof of her Housing Trust home for more than six months She finally realised it wasn't a possum when she heard a loud bang in the early hours of the morning, followed by a person swearing.  'There was this humongous bang,' she said. 'It sounded like somebody had almost fallen through the roof. 'He started swearing when he fell ... I was too freaked out to ring the police because I thought if I made a noise, whoever was up there would come down.'  When police turned up later that day, they found proof a squatter was living there. Footage showed canned food as well as sardines, a box of Uncle Toby's roll-ups, peanut butter and full cream milk powder had been taken from the woman's kitchen, and squirrelled away in the dust-filled attic. A makeshift bed, unspecified drugs and shoes were also found by police. Minister for Housing and Urban Development Nick Champion said he was aware of the issue and his department had visited the woman to check the property. '[Staff] have since visited the home multiple times to ensure the property is secure, including by fixing the roof and changing the locks,' he said. Minister for Housing and Urban Development Nick Champion said the government was actively trying to solve the issue 'The Housing Trust will continue to work with the tenant to ensure she feels safe in her home. 'I encourage anyone who has immediate fears for their safety in their home or if they think someone is trespassing on their property to contact police, who are the appropriate agency to deal with this.' The elderly woman, however, said she did not know there was a trespasser and her queries about noises and a possum problem were ignored.  'There was someone up there this whole time, getting up and down in my home when I've been asleep,' she said. 'I got quite upset and I thought, ''no, this is not right.'' 'They (the Housing Trust) just make you out to feel like you're stupid. 'Why wasn't my problem sorted out?'  Daily Mail has contacted Housing Trust for comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.