Caitlin*, who wishes to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, was living in a caravan park with her 13-year-old foster son and is now living in an AirBnB, subsidised by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.

"Rents in Nowra are so expensive," she said.

"Before we moved into this place, we were in a caravan park but this wasn't good for the young person I care for.

"His behavioural issues became more difficult to manage because without a secure place to call home, it's very difficult to build an emotionally and mentally healthy life."

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Caitlin said the uncertainty surrounding how long she can stay in temporary accommodation combined with increasing rental prices is taking a mental toll ahead of the holiday season.

"It's hard to even plan ahead for Christmas because of this uncertainty," she said.

CEO of Salt Ministries, Peter Dover, who has managed a Bomaderry homeless hub for a decade, said this was the "worst I have ever seen" in terms of a housing crisis.

"At the moment we have 21 women with children looking for accommodation that are just on the streets," Mr Dover told the South Coast Register.

"Our shelter is completely full. Our 22 other houses are completely full. We've just rented another house today and filled it.

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"We've got people over the (Nowra) Showground that are just living in cars. They're not allowed to be there. But we're working with them and keeping them there.

"It is just that unbelievable."

Mr Dover said the fundamental problem is housing supply, but that people can help by volunteering at the shelter or donating money.

"There's no resources, there's no housing stock, and it's just getting worse," he said.

"We were going to have to close our shelter over Christmas because everyone's just tired because of COVID.

"But we've just had to bite the bullet and pay people to keep it open."

According to CoreLogic, the median cost for rentals in the Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands in June was $549 per week, an increase in 15.8 per cent since 2020.

Almost no private rental properties were affordable for people relying on JobSeeker, disability pensions and single parent support payments in March, according to Anglicare's 2021 Rental Affordability Snapshot.

The annual Snapshot, released on December 8, surveyed 74,000 rental listings across Australia and found that affordability has crashed to "record lows". Anglicare measured affordability as no more than 30 per cent of a household budget.

"We found that 1,806 listings out of 74,266 were affordable for at least one household type on income support," the report outlined.

"Of those, nearly one in four were affordable rentals provided as part of the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS)."

The NRAS was introduced by the Rudd Government and created incentives to build and rent affordable homes in the private market.

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