Housing has become so unaffordable in Queensland that people are having nervous breakdowns and going without food to pay rent, an industry lobby group says.
New modelling commissioned by Australians for Affordable Housing shows more than 55,000 households in the Brisbane local government area are under housing stress.
Campaign manager Sarah Toohey says people are considered to have housing stress when they are in the bottom 40 per cent of income earners and spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs.
She cited one example of a woman with two children who spent a month looking for an affordable rental property after selling her home.
"She had a nervous breakdown about eight days out of her current lease being up because she was unable to find anything else and was hospitalised for a period of time because of the strain that put her under," she told reporters on Tuesday.
"In extreme cases, we see people going without meals because of their housing costs."
Ms Toohey said the modelling showed residents in the Gympie, Fraser Coast, Gold Coast and Logan areas were the worst off, with 19 per cent of households in each of the local government areas experiencing housing stress.
She attributed the problem to high-income earners and retirees with more equity in their homes moving to coastal areas and pushing rents and house prices up, forcing low income earners to then move to nearby regional areas in search of affordable housing.
Ms Toohey said both major parties must make affordable housing a major priority ahead of the March 24 state election.
"(The data) shows it's widespread, it's a statewide problem and it's a problem across the whole housing market - for both buyers and renters," she said.
"What both parties in this state election need to do is come up with a plan across the housing spectrum for all of Queensland."
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