Demand for state-funded housing continues to rise across Otago and Southland.
Invercargill tops the Ministry of Social Development’s latest waiting list update, with a jump from 20 people waiting in December 2017 to 127 in December 2019.
Dunedin waiting lists have also steadily risen — from 87 in December 2017 to 127 in December 2019.
Presbyterian Support Otago chief executive Jo Rowe said reasons varied.
Most notably a rise in house and rental prices meant more people were looking to social housing as an option.
"Dunedin has become an attractive location for families and businesses too, which puts pressure on housing supply."
She confirmed it provided care homes and retirement village accommodation to about 550 people across Otago.
Ms Row believed the solution needed to include measures from central Government and the Dunedin City Council, as well as other social housing providers.
"Certainly, an increase in benefits would help people to afford private rentals more readily, but the supply side needs work, too.
"More social and private housing needs to be built, and faster."
Southland Community Housing Group member Margaret Cook said low interest rates in the region had meant an increasing number of people were buying rental properties and getting on the housing market.
"That has diminished the rental pool," Mrs Cook said.
"First-home buyers are cashing in on their KiwiSaver and buying the house that they’ve rented."
She also said many rental properties in Invercargill were "old stock" which had not been kept up to current legal specifications.
"The Government is requiring them to be brought up to spec and that’s scaring some landlords off, so they are selling them."
The Housing Register, operated by the ministry, includes applicants assessed as eligible for social housing who are ready to be matched to a suitable property.
The Waimate District is the only area within the Otago and Southland area which had a waiting list of zero for December 2019.
The Waitaki and Queenstown Lakes districts also had significant increases between December 2017 and December 2019 — the former more than doubled from 6 to 14, the latter rose from 11 to 21.
Dunedin has the largest number of people waiting — 167 — who were deemed to have a "severe and persistent" housing need that must be addressed immediately.
A vast majority of applicants across the data were in need of a single-bedroom dwelling.
Nationwide data released by the Ministry of Social Development showed a national jump from 6182 people on the waiting list in December 2017, to 14,869 in December 2019.
