Survey results to be issued by Anglicare ACT on Monday have found that 87 per cent of students living independently in Canberra are suffering housing stress, while almost one quarter have experienced some level of homelessness.

In addition to consequences such as students sleeping in cars or quitting their studies, report author Jeremy Halcrow said housing costs were forcing students to increasingly rely on charities for financial support.

"The high private rental costs facing students is one reason we have seen a 7 per cent increase in demand this year," he said.

Of the 18- to 25-year-old students surveyed, 28 per cent were unable to pay for at least one basic need regularly, including food.

Mr Halcrow said Anglicare was forced to increase its target for the ongoing winter appeal due to the surge in the number of students unable to afford both rent and regular meals.

"In the past few years Anglicare and its relief partners … have seen an increase in tertiary students seeking emergency food because they had run out of money," he said.

The survey has found that students in share housing spend a median of $169 a week on housing with a median income of $397.50. This student group spent a median of 46 per cent of their income on rent, though some renters reported costs of up to 80 per cent.

Students renting privately or with a partner were spending a median of $232.50 on rent with median income of $490.

Anglicare is calling on the federal government to adjust Commonwealth Rent Assistance for Canberra recipients, an issue which has also caused concern for ACT Council of Social Service.

Director Susan Helyar said even the city's designated student housing was unaffordable for welfare recipients, with some rooms costing $280 a week.

''We know that youth allowance

is inadequate, even with rent assistance, to cover the cost of housing options available to students,'' she said.

Ms Helyar said the ACT government and the private rental market needed to collaborate in creating accommodation options between public housing, where tenants spend 25 per cent of their income on rent, and affordable housing, priced at 80 per cent of market rent. ACT Shelter executive officer Leigh Watson said if students failed to afford housing, they were often left in an unsafe position.

''We've heard of students who were sleeping in 24-hour places around campus like computer labs and libraries,'' she said.

''They had no other place to go home to.''

ACT Shelter will be discussing the issue further at a student housing forum on August 26.