Stacey Knowles felt like she had won the lottery when she secured a rental property for her rapidly growing family.
Ms Knowles' family of four — plus one canine companion — had outgrown their two-bedroom residence in Warrnambool, three hours' west of Melbourne, and were desperate for somewhere bigger to call home.
But Ms Knowles knew she had a difficult task ahead of her.
"I've heard of many families with just one work parent living in tents for months," she said.
In the end, Ms Knowles was lucky.
A friend was able to offer her accommodation in a rental property that had enough space for the family and pet dog, Rollo.
But she knows not everyone has those connections.
"It was almost like a sensation of winning the lottery, avoiding potential homelessness," Ms Knowles said.
"We were beyond lucky."
A lack of affordable rental properties and the rising cost of living is pushing thousands of people to homelessness, or close to it.
New data shows the number of affordable properties in Melbourne dropped by 44 per cent over the past year, while the median rent rose by up to $112 a week in some suburbs.
According to Anglicare Victoria's annual Rental Affordability Snapshot released on Wednesday, rental affordability dropped 40 per cent in regional Victoria.
Only 17 of the 48 regional local government areas had any rental listing available at all on the data collection day during March, including Warrnambool where Ms Knowles lived.
No place to call home
June, whose name has been withheld for privacy, is a 47-year-old single mother of adult children who has been looking for a place to live after leaving a long-term abusive marriage.
She said she had slept in her car, on her brother's lounge and in a friend's caravan while applying for rental properties across Victoria, including in Ballarat, Wangaratta, Shepparton, Benalla and Wodonga.
"Finding accommodation is ruthless, expensive and sparse," she said.
"There is so much competition.
She said she would be starting a new job next week and needed to find somewhere near Cobram.
"I'm thinking I might end up in a caravan park," she said.
Call for urgent reform
Anglicare data shows that only 100 properties across Victoria are considered affordable for Victorians on income support, equating to less than 1 per cent of all properties.
For a property to be classed as affordable, it must require less than 30 per cent of a household's total income, and have enough bedrooms to avoid overcrowding.
But for people on Youth Allowance and Jobseeker payments, not a single property was affordable on the day of survey — without putting them into rental stress.
Only a quarter of properties across the state were affordable for households living on the minimum wage.
Anglicare Victoria acting chief executive Sue Sealey said the housing crisis was harming young people disproportionately.
"A quarter of Victorians currently without a home are between the ages of 12 and 24, and only 3 per cent of social housing properties are leased to people in this age group," she said.
"This urgently needs to change."
Anglicare Victoria Ballarat homelessness case manager Andrea Gorman said her team had very limited options to help people who needed housing.
"We can offer them a sleeping bag, or a tent or a swag. We can put them in a hotel for a couple of days at the max and then the funding runs out," she said.
Most affordable areas
Greater Dandenong, Banyule and Frankston were the most affordable local government areas in Melbourne for people receiving income support, according to Anglicare Victoria.
Melton, Whittlesea and Brimbank were the best for those on the minimum wage.
The most expensive Melbourne areas were Bayside, Cardinia, Glen Eira, Stonnington, Yarra, and Melbourne.
In regional Victoria, Swan Hill topped the list for the most affordable area for those on income support, followed by Latrobe and Mildura, with Loddon, South Gippsland and Ballarat the best for those on minimum wage.
In terms of the least affordable, Ararat, Bass Coast and Central Goldfields topped the list for income support households, with Wodonga, Greater Geelong and Mount Alexander the least affordable for those on minimum wage.
Anglicare Victoria has called for greater collaboration between the state and federal governments to create more social and affordable housing, and for the federal government to raise income support payments.
