Every department in the ACT government is being asked to direct 1 per cent of its budget to help alleviate Canberra's "alarming" housing crisis.
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That would raise an extra $17 million a year for housing services.
This is one objective of a campaign being launched on Saturday by the territory's peak social welfare organisations – the ACT Council of Social Service and ACT Shelter.
The My Vote for Housing campaign will use poignant stories of people who have unexpectedly found themselves sleeping rough.
ACTCOSS director Susan Helyar said the compilation, Stories of Home, would bring better understanding of the extent of the housing crisis.
The 12 personal accounts, along with electorate by electorate data, present a "fresh and alarming picture of Canberra's housing crisis", she said.
"People tell how surprisingly easy it is to fall into housing crisis, even when you feel secure," she said.
"In our hyper-inflated market, all it takes is a sudden bereavement or a tussle with a landlord over an issue like internet access, to be left looking over the cliff of homelessness."
The national capital had the second highest rate of homelessness recorded in the 2011 census, Ms Helyar said.
"Canberra can be a great city but it is not a great place for people who can't afford housing," she said.
The peak body wants negative gearing concessions to be removed, to reduce pressure on inflation and housing prices,
At least 1 per cent of every ACT directorates' budget should be invested in affordable housing or providing homelessness services.
"We don't think 1 per cent is a big demand but we think it would make a substantial difference in terms of the resources available," Ms Helyar said.
"There would be an extra $17,663,000 allocation for responding to and reducing homelessness."
ACT Shelter executive officer Travis Gilbert said the peak groups were meeting candidates to discuss the campaign and to make housing an issue for this year's ACT election.
He said the campaign would highlight data from the 2015 Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot which identified if properties could be rented in the ACT by people on low incomes without taking more than 30 per cent of their pay packet.
According to this measure, there were no affordable homes in the national capital for people living on the youth allowance or the disability support pension.
Data released this week showed Canberra continues to be one of the country's most expensive cities in which to rent a home.
The Domain Rental Report for the March quarter showed Canberra's median weekly rental price was $470 during the period – the third most expensive result after Sydney and Darwin.
