The median rent prices in some Ballarat suburbs have increased by three per cent in the past six months and nearly 40 per cent in the past 10 years.

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said affordable housing would be harder to come by, particularly with the reduction of the JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments.

"We had a situation pre-COVID that we had 25,000 people every night homeless in Victoria and around 100,000 coming to our homelessness services every year," she said.

"We know there is a very significant shortage of housing that is affordable to people on low incomes."

Data analysis shows median rent prices in Sebastopol-Dealcombe, Wendouree-Alfredton and Ballarat have increased by three per cent in the last six months.

Some regional suburbs have increased by nearly 10 per cent, possibly due to more people moving from Melbourne to the regions as working from home has become the norm.

Ms Smith said she was concerned the federal government did not have a homelessness or affordable housing strategy.

She said she was 'not optimistic' about what she would see in the federal budget on Tuesday.

"We should be seeing significant investment from the federal government in social housing as a stimulus for building industries," Ms Smith said.

"It has a terrific double banger outcome in also getting people off the streets who would otherwise be homeless."

Ms Smith said Australia had a low level of social housing and Victoria had the lowest proportion of dwellings.

"What a great opportunity for the federal government to announce an investment in social housing and ask the state governments to match that," she said.

"It is a bit of a no-brainer social housing stimulus.

"But I haven't had any indication that it is going to happen."

Ms Smith said the state government had made some welcome investment into social housing in Ballarat and she was hopeful that would continue as part of economic stimulus.

"I would certainly be hopeful the state government would make a contribution to social housing as a stimulus, but I really think the federal government needs to take leadership," she said.

More than 80,000 people are on the waiting list for social housing properties in Victoria and could wait years before a property becomes available.

An increased number of people are relying on income support to pay their rent and other essentials due to job losses amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Seymour has experienced the highest median rent increases in the past 10 years in Victoria, with an increase of 67 per cent to rent prices.

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