Cowra is fortunate to have one of the shorter waiting lists for social housing in the central west, but it's not as short as Canowindra, or as long as it is in Grenfell or in Boorowa.
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New figures released last week by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services, showed that the wait time for all types of housing in Cowra was between two and five years, while in Grenfell and Boorowa you could have to wait for up to 10 years or more for a home.
In Canowindra and the rest of the Cabonne shire, the wait time for two or three bedroom homes was under two years, while one and four bedroom houses were the same as Cowra, between two and five years.
As of June 30 this year, Housing Plus had 248 rental properties available in Cowra, 32 in Canowindra/Cabonne, 18 in Grenfell and only seven in Boorowa.
Of those available in Cowra, 31 were one bedroom or studio apartments, 55 were two bedroom, 129 were three bedroom and 33 had four bedrooms.
With a similar proportion of properties available as Bathurst and Dubbo, Cowra had 67 people that were looking for housing.
Canowindra had four people, Grenfell had five and Boorowa had two people that were looking for a place.
Boorowa had the longest waiting list of all the towns in the region with one and three bedroom homes having a list that was 10 years or more long.
With both Grenfell and Boorowa lingering at the bottom of the housing league table, Karen Andrew, the chief executive officer for Housing Plus, said that everyone wants to live as close to the centre of town as they could and that it was important to be able to utilise available land well.
"The population is aging and families are getting smaller and the demand for the two bedroom properties is increasing, so we need to address the problem including the private sector construction of second dwellings on residential blocks," she said.
Mrs Andrew said that housing was critical for an individuals well-being and a lack of it can put big stress on a family unit.
"Sometimes people are forced to live with family or friends or share houses in the private market," she said.
"They may be forced to couch surf or live in housing that's not affordable for them."