Each of the developments is for a three lot subdivision, and all are located on the Delacombe Estate, the focus of a major state government renewal project announced last year.

All of the proposed building projects are clustered within close proximity, with two of the proposed developments on Leawarra Crescent and one of them on adjoining Monet Court.

Each application has been lodged by Dennis Family Homes for the Department of Health & Human Services, along with Shepparton-based building designers Bruce Mactier.

There is currently a vacant plot of land at Monet Court, where three buildings are planned on the site which has a total land area of 691 meters squared.

Of the three dwellings proposed, one would be a single-bed, single storey and the other two would be two-bedroom and two-storey units immediately next to each other. A separate site at 101 Leawarra Crescent, also a vacant block, would be used for the same purpose.

On a plot of land 625 square meters, there would be single-storey one-unit dwelling and two double-storey two-bed units.

The final proposed development is at 20 Leawarra Crescent, again for three units: two single-bedroom units and one three-bedroom unit.

In the application for the latter property, there is also a proposal to reduce the parking requirements.

Under current Victorian planning legislation, each dwelling requires a car park for every one and two-bedroom dwelling and two for every three bedroom house or unit.

The applications says parking planning guidelines can mean "the department [of Health and Human Services] experiences delays in receiving planning approvals and is often required to provide additional parking when not required."

The wider Delacombe Estate, a pocket of housing south-west of Whitelaw Avenue and Sutton Street, has been earmarked for a multi-million dollar state upgrade.

A release from The Department of Health and Human Services said last year it was an opportunity "to improve the layout of the estate to meet the needs of the community into the future."

The availability of rental housing in Ballarat - as well as its accessibility to the city's most marginalised people - is a growing issue in the area.

Ballarat has seen a sharp rise in applications for social housing in the past decade.

The latest statistics from September show a total of 1,882 social housing applicants, including 1,106 recorded as "priority" access.

The Ripon Liberal MP Louise Staley recently criticised the Andrews government, expressing her concern about the number of applications on the priority waiting list.

Last month, the Minister for Housing Richard Wynne said the government had invested in a range of initiatives to address a shortfall right across the state, including at sites in Mount Pleasant and Delacombe.

Ahead of last year's election, the Andrews government committed to building 800 one and two bedroom properties, and 200 three-bedroom properties in the state by 2022.

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