More than 100,000 South Australians are living with "housing stress", the state's peak welfare group says.
The South Australian Council of Social Service has released its latest cost of living update and says 107,000 households spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs, the definition of housing stress.
It says 60 per cent of those are renters.
SACOSS chief executive Ross Womersley says shelter is a basic necessity and housing costs are one of the largest expenses for most South Australians.
"But when housing costs get to more than 30 per cent, it causes real hardship," he said.
"There is little left in the budget for other necessary expenditures, and in the worst cases housing stress can lead to defaults on payments, loss of homes, and homelessness."
The SACOSS report found rates of housing stress had increased among renters in the past five years, but decreased for mortgage holders, pointing to the difficulty for first home buyers and others renting to break into the housing market.
Mr Womersley said the data showed housing affordability should be a key issue at the next state election in March.
He said SACOSS wanted to see all parties developing policies to support people experiencing housing stress, including a vacant property tax and support for community housing associations.
Mr Womersley said Monday's report also highlighted an alarming decline in the provision of public housing from 11.2 per cent of all private dwellings in 1991 to about six per cent now.
"This represents an alarming and unacceptable decline in a major part of the housing safety net which needs to be addressed to assist the most vulnerable in the housing market," he said.
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