Narooma couple forced to live out of a caravan with their two-month-old daughter

The research found there were only 15 appropriate properties available for people on government payments, and only seven "affordable" properties for couples with two children.

Anglicare's Housing and Disability Manager for Southern NSW, Danea Cowell, said the national housing crisis was disproportionately affecting people on the South Coast who had the added pressure of ongoing bushfire recovery.

"There is simply not enough affordable housing for low income families," she said.

"Without secure housing, mental and physical health, relationships, employment and education can be negatively impacted.

"Our service is seeing a spike in the number of people presenting for help, and even working families are asking for food relief so their budgets can stretch to afford increasing rental costs.

"Rents have increased due to a number of complex factors including people moving out of cities due to the COVID lockdowns, long-term renters being forced to move to make way for holiday rentals and a lack of housing as people struggle to rebuild after the fires.

"Building projects happening on the South Coast mean that housing is made available to workers but local people are unable to find anything."

Anglicare's Bushfire Recovery Coordinator, Carlin Stanford, said the impacts of the fires were causing housing issues along the coast.

"A number of people are unable to rebuild because of changing housing regulations and this has put additional pressure on an already tight housing market," she said.

"Many people are traumatised, and having to navigate various assistance networks can feel overwhelming. Our team advocate for people, and help provide emotional support, but without secure housing, people can't really don't have the foundation from which to move forward with their lives."

Narooma couple Samantha and Ian were both in full-time jobs before their daughter's birth, but were unable to secure a private rental.

Their daughter is now two months old, and the young family is living in a small caravan in a relative's backyard.

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"We looked for more than 12 months and put in heaps of applications, but we got nothing," Samantha said.

"Anglicare have been wonderful in helping us get on priority lists for government housing, but we would have preferred a private rental.

"Our current situation makes me feel pretty anxious and unstable."

Samantha recently had to quarantine in the caravan after her daughter caught COVID-19.

"Quarantining in a small caravan that leaks and has no kitchen facilities was really hard," she said.

"My partner grew up here and has family in the area, so we don't want to move away, but I'm really worried about what to do when my daughter starts walking.

"The caravan has no space, and the backyard is unsafe and has snakes.

"We want a home where we can set up our lives as a family and know that our daughter will be safe."

Samantha said local Aboriginal housing agencies were also struggling to find accommodation for a growing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, with some people having no options outside of moving into a tent.

"For Aboriginal families, there are a lot of barriers to getting into the rental market or looking at getting a deposit for a home," she said.

"Greater support for Aboriginal agencies is needed, including financial literacy programs for people in regional areas."

All categories reviewed in the research most showed no housing would be affordable in the Batemans Bay area for people relying on government supports. The only exception was for couples on minimum wage receiving family tax benefits, which showed seven percent of properties would be affordable.

Anglicare is calling for greater assistance for vulnerable families in regional NSW including an increase in social housing options, an increase in government support payments, and greater protections for tenants.