In the last 12 months, Daylesford Child and Family Services assisted 135 people who were homeless or at risk.

CAFS' Kim Delahey said communities often stereotyped homelessness and often did not believe the issue existed in smaller towns. 

But she said rural areas were certainly not immune to homelessness and people doing it tough.

"The chronic shortage of affordable and available rental housing remains a big factor for the region's homeless," Ms Delahey said. 

"In reality, a larger proportion of homeless are sleeping on friend's couches or on their floors."

Housing affordability was identified as an issue by Hepburn Shire in 2012, however it has not sought or received any funding for community housing since.

A spokesperson said the council was currently undertaking an industrial and residential land study, which will outline future need for residential land and rezoning.

It is also seeking to transfer all its current community housing properties to a registered housing association to "provide expert house management and increase the supply of affordable properties in the region".

Department of Human Services figures reveal there were 881 prospective tenants on the public housing wait list in June 2014 for the Ballarat region.

The area covers Daylesford, Horsham, Sebastopol, Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat, Horsham, Wendouree and Ararat.

Ms Delahey is calling for more support to reduce these numbers, saying the cost of homelessness to the community, economy and individuals was enormous.

"The (property market) is continuing to make getting out of homelessness more difficult for people," she said.

"It is also about a lack of connectedness... and it is near impossible to work on underlying issues when a person can't be sure where they will be sleeping each night."