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In fact the crisis is so bad that industry leaders are warning shire residents to prepare for a dramatic increase in their rent over the next 12 to 18 months.

Raine & Horne principal Adam Porteous says the shortage is a systemic crisis that has been getting worse over the past few years.

“I think it’s a national issue, it’s larger than Batemans Bay, we’re just starting to see the effects now,” he said.

“Right now, our vacant listing represents less than one per cent of our total rental portfolio - and that’s low, the lowest it’s been in 17 years.”

Mr Porteous said many investors withdrew from the market because of the global financial crisis.

And he said demand for family rental homes was so high owners could pick their price.

“If the investors don’t come back into the market, rents are going to rise dramatically over the next 12 to 18 months,” Mr Porteous said.

“We are getting between five and six excellent applications for each home. You could almost start an auction off the demand for family homes.”

For Emma Price and Lindsay Worne, the rental crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Relocating from Sydney, the couple found they were able to secure work with relative ease but the task of applying for properties was far more arduous.

“We started applying for properties in December and had no idea how many people were in the market,” Ms Price said.

The couple planned to relocate with time to spare before they started their new jobs but, unable to wait any longer, they bit the bullet and moved into the spare room of a friend’s Pebbly Beach home two weeks ago.

“We’ve just heard that we’ve been approved for a property, so it’s a great relief,” Ms Price said.

“We never experienced this problem in the city.”

Ms Price thought perhaps the shortage was because people were selling off investment properties.

“One agent told me the market was flooded with renters looking for new places to live because their owners had decided to sell,” she said.

LJ Hooker Batemans Bay senior property manager Julie Tyler confirmed this.

She said a rise in the sale of investment properties had placed extra pressure on the market.

“There weren’t a lot of people buying investment properties after the stock market collapse,” she said. “But that can all turn around very quickly.”