NSW rental market has failed: alliance

Skyrocketing rents in NSW are a sign the market is failing to deliver affordable options, a group advocating for more social housing says.

Shelter NSW CEO John Engeler says "the rental market has failed".

About a third of NSW people live in rented properties and rents in Greater Sydney have increased by up to 28 per cent in the past year.

"The NSW government has lots of untapped land ... for accessible and appropriate dwellings that have good amenities ... for key workers such as check-out operators, cleaners and caretakers," Mr Engeler told reporters on Wednesday.

"These are the people that kept us safe during COVID-19. These are the people who deserve secure housing," Mr Engeler said.

He was speaking in Sydney alongside other representatives from the Good Growth Alliance, a partnership of housing and property organisations advocating for more sustainable and liveable cities and regions.

Mr Engeler suggested a targeted rental relief program similar to the one the federal government rolled out during the pandemic as a short-term solution to "flatten out the curve".

Acting NSW executive director of Property Council of Australia Adina Cirson, said 725,000 new homes needed to be built by 2036 to stem the housing crisis.

"The most basic human right is to have access to appropriate, safe and affordable housing," she said.

"What we're seeing right now are people queuing up for hours (to rent) and they're paying way beyond what they need to get into the rental market.

"The state government has to intervene at the local level to deliver more social housing and affordable options, to make more land available ... to make sure we've got accommodation for our students and the most vulnerable in our community."

But she also noted the property sector had a part to play.

"The property sector is responsible for building shopping centres and building infrastructure to keep our cities running but also homes for people," Ms Cirson said.

Homelessness NSW CEO Trina Jones said 50,000 people in NSW are on a waiting list for social housing, which would take more than 10 years to be ticked off.

The NSW government announced on Monday it would ban real estate agents from instigating bidding wars between prospective renters wanting to secure a lease on a property.

Labor has also committed to passing legislation that would oblige realtors to disclose to prospective tenants when a higher bid was made on a rental property, among a raft of changes it wants to implement to even the rental playing field.

Opposition leader Chris Minns wrote to Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday asking parliament be recalled in order to deal with the affordability crisis including skyrocketing rents.

"Over 35 per cent of tenanted households in this state were in rental stress, which means they are spending more than a third of their income just to keep a roof over their heads," he wrote.

"Going into summer when real estate markets go crazy and energy bills hit their peak, we need certainty legislated."