The most recent figures from Housing NSW show that there is a two- to five-year wait for general social housing applicants who want to live in a one-bedroom home in Maitland and a five to 10-year wait for three-bedroom houses.

But applicants face at least a 10-year wait for two- and four-bedroom social housing in Maitland.

There are similar waiting lists for four-bedroom houses in Port Stephens, Cessnock and Dungog.

Two-bedroom houses also have a decade-long waiting list in Port Stephens and Cessnock.

The Mercury approached Housing NSW for waiting times after a tip from the community that there was an ongoing shortage of social housing in the region.

Read what the Mercury has to say here

There are 1839 Housing NSW residences in Maitland, including 357 one-bedroom houses, 418 two-bedroom homes, 859 three-bedroom lodgings and 205 four-bedroom residences.

Maitland has the second highest number of Housing NSW dwellings in the Hunter, behind Newcastle.

Maitland MP elect Jenny Aitchison said there appeared to be pressure on public housing generally, not only on availability, but with issues such as property maintenance.

“It’s not just about getting people into housing,” she said.

“It needs to be looked at strategically, not just on the numbers.”

Expected waiting times are based on the length of time that general applicants at the top of the lists had been waiting for a property to become available in a certain area, according to the Housing NSW website.

The length of time since a property was last available in an area is also a factor in predicting waiting times.

“It is important to consider both these factors, as in some locations there are only a small number of properties which turn over infrequently,” the website noted.

The Mercury asked Minister for Social Housing Brad Hazzard’s office what the government would do to address the problem.

But there was no response by the time of going to print.

Private management solution to social housing crisis