The big housing initiatives in Tuesday's budget were the expansion of the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and First Home Super Saver Scheme and the new Family Home Guarantee allowing single parents to buy a home with a two per cent deposit.

But Nova for Women & Children CEO Kelly Hansen said those schemes wouldn't improve supply, nor assist those who can't afford to buy.

"The ideas are great but you need to fix the fundamentals first," she said. "It isn't addressing the lower end. They should have invested in social housing."

"We have had a few women living in tents, under bridges and in stairwells. We are currently in the middle of a major crisis. It terrifies me and it really does need government intervention."

Kate Colvin, spokesperson for national homelessness campaign Everybody's Home, said last year, a third of women and children escaping violence who contacted homelessness services were turned away because there was no accommodation.

"We welcome home ownership incentives for single parents, but they don't address the areas of greatest need, people on low and modest incomes," Ms Colvin said. "Economic modelling shows a joint Commonwealth/State-Territory investment of $7.7 billion, constructing 30,000 new homes over the next four years would support 18,000 full-time equivalent jobs per annum."

Ms Hansen was disappointed to see no improvements to JobSeeker and believed cutting negative gearing could help bridge the housing affordability divide.

"A two per cent deposit is good if prices are reasonable," she said. "But a lot of women are still in low paying jobs or living below the poverty line on JobSeeker."

Ms Hansen pointed out the government was spruiking $1.1 billion for women's safety measures, but said women fleeing violence will still face homelessness without more housing supply.

Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon agreed the domestic violence funding wouldn't go far without greater social housing investment.

"If you're fleeing a domestic violence relationship today, you can't into get crisis accommodation," she said. "If this government is serious about trying to stop violence against women they need to invest in social housing."

She pointed out the the Family Home Guarantee will only help 2500 of the million Australian single parents each year, with the government investing $300,000 towards the program per year.

"Never has housing been less affordable," she said. "This was a total missed opportunity to invest in social housing. If the government can't understand the social benefit of more housing, they should understand the economic benefit.

"You can't have citizens at their full potential if they do not have safe, secure housing."

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