Port Stephens Family and Neighbourhood Service assistant manager Ann Fletcher told a homelessness and housing summit in Medowie last week that her team was funded to assist 348 individuals per year but in the 2021/2022 financial year helped 879.

Ms Fletcher said a lack of affordable long-term rentals combined with the rapidly rising cost of private rentals, anywhere between $50 and $200, plus very few social or emergency accommodation options in the immediate area were just some of the reasons why the housing, and in turn homelessness, crisis in Port Stephens was worsening.

"There is not one single property in the whole of Port Stephens that you can rent under $300," she said.

"If you're on an aged pension, $300 would be the maximum of what you could afford. We have a lot of people who aren't using their electricity and are coming to us for food because they're paying their rent and then they've got nothing left.

"Currently we have about 45 families and individuals living in our only emergency accommodation facility, the Motto Farm Hotel in Heatherbrae, because they simply can't find anywhere else to rent."

ALSO READ: An 'imperfect storm': Why the housing crisis is worsening in Port Stephens

A sea- and tree-change trend triggered by the pandemic and flexibility in working from home caused a housing boom in regional NSW.

Due to its proximity to Sydney, more people moved to Port Stephens and the Hunter to live, causing a shortfall in properties available to rent. The trend also saw rent prices increase, Ms Fletcher said.

"When I first came here in 2014 you could rent a unit in Raymond Terrace for $200," she said.

"Over time, before the pandemic, prices increased to between $270 and $295. Now you're looking at anywhere around $350 and above.

"We lost a lot of properties during COVID to owner-occupiers. And what remained or went back on the market, the price went through the roof."

State Labor MP Kate Washington has advocated to turn the empty Tomaree Lodge into short-term crisis accommodation and called for greater investment in social housing in Port Stephens.

"The lack of social housing affects the entire community," she said. "It forces people onto the street, for a start. But it also forces people into the private rental market, which drives those costs up even further for everyone else. So, private rentals in Port Stephens will continue to get more expensive until we build more social housing options."

Ms Fletcher's opinion is that the rental market needs to be overhauled.

"Pressure needs to be brought to bear on landlords if we're to get out of this housing crisis," she said. "Housing has been marketed as an investment opportunity, not the basic human right that it is. We need to take the business out of housing again."

Pressure on housing in Port Stephens since the pandemic began in 2020 has seen the number of people turning to the family and neighbourhood service for help dramatically increase.

In the 2016/2017 financial year, Port Stephens Family and Neighbourhood Service assisted 391 people experiencing or facing homelessness.

The following year, they helped 364 and in the 2018/2019 financial year 357.

This rose to 444 in 2019/2020 before almost doubled to 848 in the first year of the pandemic. In the 2021/2022 financial year, the service helped 879 people.

Ms Fletcher said the service, which is based in Raymond Terrace but reaches to all parts of Port Stephens, assists people from all walks of life but had noticed more people in the over-55 age bracket had sought help from them.

In years prior, the service would see five or six people aged 55 and above. Last year alone they helped 21.

"The next wave we're expecting to see is people under mortgage stress," Ms Fletcher said.

"And these are people who have handled their finances all their lives, who wouldn't know to reach out to us for emergency relief, for food and bill assistance."

Residents and families feeling financial pressure, are on the verge of homelessness or are in need of other assistance can reach out to Port Stephens Family and Neighbourhood Service.

A "hub" for services, it offers child, youth and family counselling and casework, homelessness help, advice on crisis and transitional accommodation, parents and carers groups, domestic violence support, legal clinics, Aboriginal culture groups, early childhood programs and financial assistance - all for free.

It works with the Tomaree Neighbourhood Centre and Yacaaba Centre plus Tilligerry Family Network to provide assistance to residents on the peninsulas, runs a youth venue at The Deck in Raymond Terrace.

Ms Fletcher said staff are trained at navigating government systems and can help residents access support. The service can also provide bill and food relief.

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