Published Thursday by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, the report also found homelessness was becoming more concentrated in major cities nationwide in what was described as a "warning sign" for policy makers.

According to the research, Tasmania recorded a 20 per cent increase in the rate of homelessness between 2001 and 2016, with 54 per cent jump in Hobart.

Hobart experienced an increased homelessness rate higher than that of the population growth rate - an increase found in statistical areas around the urban centres of Launceston and Burnie, too.

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Hobart was also pointed to as one of three cities in which the connection between the homelessness rate and rental affordability appeared to be "most striking", recording a 54 per cent increase in homelessness in areas where the rental growth was higher than the state median.

This was compared to a 33 per cent increase in areas with below median rental growth.

The study also found a nationwide "mismatch" between the distribution of homelessness and the specialist services to assist those experiencing it.

Lackluster wages, income support payments, and secure employment levels were also contributing factors to the increasing number of people finding themselves homeless, according to Swinbourne University of Technology and Launch Housing's Deborah Batterham, one of the researchers involved.

"It's not just about housing, it's about income relative to housing," Ms Batterham, said. "The homelessness rate isn't stable, it's increasing. And it's increasing faster than [the] population."

Pattie Chugg, executive officer at Shelter Tasmania, said on Thursday the new report confirmed what the organisation already knew: rising rents and low income growth were creating "unprecedented hardship" for many seeking to rent within the state.

[Read more about the Tasmanian youth stuck between support accommodation and an unaffordable rental market]

"The study provides yet more evidence of the relationship between homelessness and the shortage of affordable rental properties," Ms Chugg said.

"The best way to solve homelessness is to build more affordable rental housing, in particular public and community housing that remains a community asset and stays affordable in the long term."

TasCOSS chief executive Kym Goodes shared the sentiment, saying what Tasmanians were "seeing and feeling every day" was backed up by these studies.

"Working Tasmanians have joined the queues for social housing, and in this strong economy we must do better," Ms Goodes said. "No Tasmanian should have to live in their car, a shipping container or a shed."

The recent TasCOSS Measuring Progress in Tasmania statistics illustrated the average wait time for priority housing applicants and blown out from 19 to 56 weeks since 2014. In that period, the number of Tasmanians on the housing register increased from 2054 to 3233.

[Read about the Tasmanian family living in a shipping container for four years]

In a statement Thursday afternoon, Housing Minister Roger Jaensch said the government understood the best way to address housing stress and homelessness was to increase the supply of affordable housing.

"That is why in the 2019-20 Budget we have allocated almost $68 million to boost the supply of new social and affordable homes," Mr Jaensch said.

He added the government had a range of other initiatives to boost housing supply including the release of more land for affordable housing, extending the first homebuilders grant and offering incentives for property owners to open up their property for long term affordable rental agreements.

The government had also embedded last winter's emergency relief package outreach support into its Affordable Housing Action Plan.

"We are investing in more short-term accommodation to ensure there is adequate crisis and transitional accommodation for those who need it, when they need it," Mr Jaensch said. "This includes more investment in crisis beds for women and family-style accommodation."

[Read about Housing Tasmania's appeal of a Supreme Court decision which saved long-term social housing resident from being evicted into homelessness]

The AHURI report followed the release of the 2019-20 Tasmanian budget last week, which bought forward $20 million of the government's Affordable Housing Strategy due to unmet need.

However the budget was widely criticised by the state's peak social service and housing bodies, who claimed the government was "in denial" and lacked real measures to address the volume of people who needed housing services.

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