Ray White Nowra, Culburra Beach and Callala Bay director Craig Hadfield said it could be 10 years before residents see an easing on demand.

"From the time of identifying space to actually getting houses on the ground, sometimes it can take 10 years," Mr Hadfield said.

"There's a series of developments in the Shoalhaven ... many of them have been in planning for more than five or six years that are still yet to be approved.

"And it's not going to get any better. Because nobody is addressing the major issue, which is supply."

Mr Hadfield said the immediate issue was red tape in front of developers.

"Every time a perfectly sound proposal that meets all the requirements set out by the authorities is asked to modify the plans yet again, it adds to the costs," he said.

"This same land if released a year ago could have been purchased for $350,000 is now worth $450,000.

"And the government departments point the finger elsewhere."

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Shoalhaven Mayor Amanda Findley said if the process is to be sped up, it would come at a cost to ratepayers.

"In places like the Shoalhaven, the only way the process can be sped up ... is for the government to be involved in paying for studies to be done and removing that barrier from the developers in the first place," Cr Findley said.

"People in the Shoalhaven would end up having to pay for that through the existing rate base if it wasn't subsidised by the government."

Meantime, Salt Ministries, a charity at the coalface of the Shoalhaven's housing crisis, is feeling the pinch of the housing shortfall.

Around 400 people are homeless in the Gilmore electorate; there is a social housing shortfall of 3300 properties, and people are waiting anywhere from five to 10 years for social housing.

With many couch surfing or living in the bush, Mr Dover said the situation was at crisis point.

He wants to see election promises include guarantees that supply would be built sooner rather than later.

"No one can commit over the next five years, how many, and when, those houses will actually be built in the Shoalhaven," Mr Dover said.

"If whoever is elected can't provide housing in the three years of their term, how do you know what's going to happen to their promise?"

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Mr Hadfield agrees that jumps in rental costs are pushing people out of the Shoalhaven entirely, or worse, into homelessness.

"We've seen rents increased by 20 and 30 per cent which is forcing people out of their homes, some into homelessness, and some completely out of the area," he said.

Cr Findley has been pushing state agencies to release government-owned land in the Shoalhaven, saying this could provide a more immediate fix.

"The government purchased land along the Princes Highway that used to have housing on it," Cr Findley said.

"Some of that land has been cleared and could be used today for rapid deployment of housing, because it already has the existing infrastructure on there ... like sewerage and water.

"It's up to the government to free up the use of their land ... it would bring supply into the market much faster than traditional pathways of waiting for land releases."

The major parties have indicated strategies with Labor promising to build 30,000 new affordable homes for people in need over five years, including 4000 allocated to women and children fleeing violence, and older women at risk of homelessness.

Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips has assured new housing will be built locally as a part of this plan.

The Greens party has committed to building a million new public and affordable homes over two decades.

Aspiring federal senator David Shoebridge said this would mean "thousands of homes in Gilmore" during a recent visit to Nowra.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not mention a plan to provide more supply when asked about solutions to Gilmore's housing crisis when he visited Culburra Beach.

Instead he hailed the Liberals' Home Guarantee Scheme which supports first-home buyers to buy a property with a deposit as low as five per cent, rather than 20 per cent, with the government underwriting the difference.

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