Researchers from Anglicare Australia surveyed the properties available earlier this month.

While there were more than 600 extra properties on the market compared with the same period last year, there were no affordable and appropriate rental properties for eight of the 13 low-income categories across Canberra, including families reliant on a government allowance and single-parent households on full-time minimum wages. Less than 0.5 per cent of the properties were within the reach of families with two minimum-wage incomes.

Anglicare ACT and south NSW chief executive officer Jeremy Halcrow said the research was a reflection of the dire situation facing low-income households over the past four years, but said the group had expected some improvement.

"Certainly we've seen a downturn in the Canberra property market and falling rents, but it's clear it's not having a significant impact at the bottom end of the market," he said.

The survey defined affordable rental as costing less than 30 per cent of the household's income.

University of Canberra student Nicola knows all too well how difficult it is for low-income earners to find somewhere to live.

The 20-year-old lived out of a suitcase for months while staying with family when she moved to Canberra from Slovenia two years ago to study physiotherapy.

She juggles study with eight hours work each week, but even with financial support from her family, she has calculated it would mean an extra four hours' work each week to stretch to a maximum rent of $110 plus utilities - a housing bracket that is all but non-existent in Canberra.

"When you start uni you've got to know people to get group houses and places next to transport," she said.

"If you're not from Canberra, the options are really limited because most people here are in the public service earning a lot."

She finally found a place at a refuge before she moved five months ago into an accommodation service for young homeless people studying and supporting themselves.

She now pays $70 a week plus utilities for the share accommodation, but hopes she and her flatmate can find a rental property for themselves by the end of the year.

Mr Halcrow said Canberra had a healthy culture of share accommodation, in comparison with the other capitals, which meant more rental options for single people on low wages, but it remained one of the least affordable cities in the country.

While he acknowledged the ACT government's "significant shift" in its response to housing affordability, he said a more regional approach was needed with the neighbouring NSW councils affected by the spillover from Canberra. "This isn't just an issue of land releases and housing supply … it's about the mix of housing stock," he said.

He called on the federal government to intervene with steps such as abolishing negative gearing or overhauling the system so that homeowners would receive a tax reduction only if their properties were rented to low-income households.