Housing Plus CEO David Fisher said affordable housing was "difficult to find" in Orange.

Following the withdrawal of a development application to build 26 affordable housing homes in Forbes Road, Housing Plus last week gained Orange City Council approval for a 10-unit complex in Lantana Place. Construction is due to start next year.

Housing Plus has also announced a 19-unit development planned for Emerald Drive.

MAP: LANTANA PLACE

However, the waiting list is far greater and the number of homeless people is growing.

"The current Department of Communities and Justice wait list has 199 people with an additional 19 people listed as priority," he said.

"The waiting time in Orange is estimated to be 5-10 years for 1-3 bedroom [housing] and 2-5 years for four bedroom.

"In Orange, growth in the economy through mining developments, large infrastructure projects and loss of rental properties to the tourism sector, put pressure on an already limited supply of rental properties with rents rising."

Mr Fisher said there was a 15 per cent increase this year in the number of homeless people using its services.

VIDEO: HOUSING PLUS HOMES IN BLETCHINGTON STREET

"The main reasons given for presenting to the service was domestic or family violence, followed by housing crisis [eviction], relationship breakdown and inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions," he said.

Mr Fisher said the 2019 Anglican Annual Rental Affordability Survey for NSW showed the Central West needed 5300 new social housing homes plus 1600 below-market rental properties by 2036 to meeting demand.

"The solution lies in state, federal and local city councils and community housing providers working together, taking advantage of changes in planning law to create inclusionary zoning and providing support to allow for more affordable housing for rent and home ownership to be built," he said.

It follows the release of a report by another social housing group, Compass Housing Services, which said the number of households eligible for social housing was much more than the waiting lists indicated.

Report author Martin Kennedy said while there were 48,000 households on the waiting list a review of the 2016 census showed there was an extra 127,000 households eligible who had not applied for housing.

"If every household in NSW who met the eligibility criteria for social housing decided to apply, waiting lists across the country would increase by more than 261 per cent," he said.

Mr Kennedy said the increased use of technology and automation in industry was likely to make the situation worse as jobs were lost.

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