![The south-west is in the grips of a housing crisis. The south-west is in the grips of a housing crisis.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/379mw9XPZ7UFRqmwjWhGKkr/f1c6b136-132f-435c-b528-a1b5c39eb741.jpg/r0_165_3236_2157_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Rising rent costs and a lack of affordable housing in the south-west is causing severe stress across the region.
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A Warrnambool woman said she and her husband, who had one income, had applied for hundreds of rentals in the past two years.
The woman, who didn't want to be named, said they were competing with 50 to 60 other people when applying for a rental
In addition to that, listings in their price range - up to $350 a week - were getting scarcer, she said.
The woman said they were lucky to be able to live at her husband's parent's property.
But she said applying for rentals and constantly being knocked back was stressful.
"It's hard on relationships," she said.
Another woman who lives in community housing has been advised her rent is increasing from $350 a fortnight to $510.
The increase is based on income, which is averaged out over a four-week period.
However, the woman said her work was casual and that income was not guaranteed.
She said she was concerned about how she was going to be able to cover the cost of rent and bills, which had increased.
Data from the state government reveals more than 1300 people are waiting for social housing in Warrnambool, with more than 800 of those applicants having priority access.
Everybody's Home spokeswoman Maiy Azize said too many people were sacrificing the bare necessities just so they could pay the rent for another week.
"If we think housing stress and homelessness is bad now, it will be all the more diabolical for generations to come if governments don't take the necessary action we need today," Ms Azize said.
"Right now, there's a social housing shortfall of at least 640,000 homes and that will balloon to one million within decades if governments keep sticking with the status quo or delivering piecemeal measures.
"Pumping up the private rental market with landlord tax breaks and more generic housing supply hasn't made renting anymore affordable today, so we can't expect it will in the future."
Meanwhile, Homelessness Australia chief executive officer Kate Colvin revealed the number of people accessing services increased by 7.5 per cent since December 2022 and 83 per cent of those 96,000 were struggling with housing or financial stress.
Record low vacancy rates have exacerbated hardships for people with disabilities, single parents, young tenants and those from Indigenous backgrounds.
"It's supercharging discrimination and making it almost impossible for marginalised communities to get housing," Ms Colvin told a rental crisis inquiry hearing on Wednesday.
Brophy Housing Support and Linkages manager Leah McDonald told The Standard in July there were more than 1500 people in the south-west who were experiencing homelessness or family violence and were in desperate need of housing.
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