Port Macquarie Tenants' Association president Cate Brand said families didn't have enough public housing.

She said under occupancy, lack of housing and maintenance issues were all concerns.

Country Labor candidate for Port Macquarie Kristy Quill said she was hearing about extremely long waiting lists and people in all sorts of situations.

"I have heard of people waiting 13 years or more [to access public housing]," she said.

"With the rising prices of rentals in Port Macquarie, it's really difficult for a lot of people, especially for families."

State opposition spokeswoman for housing Sophie Cotsis said there had been important inquiries and recommendations but the government had delayed action until after the election.

"They have been selling off more public housing than they have been building," she said.

"There is a large issue in terms of supply of housing, particularly public housing."

But Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams said the Coalition had worked hard to rebuild social housing.

She said since 2011 the Coalition had made the waiting list transparent so people can make better decisions, had rental and income amnesties to crack down on those rorting the system and introduced measures so more people could access housing.

Mrs Williams said the Coalition had made smart decisions like selling Millers Point so more money could be reinvested into social housing and invested more than $22 million in Port Macquarie to build more and improve existing social housing properties.

Meanwhile, Ms Cotsis spoke about the need for partnerships.

"When in government, we worked with our partners to grow housing and also to provide the services," Ms Cotsis said.

"Government can't do it alone."

Ms Cotsis said it was important to provide support services too.

Labor has yet to announce its housing policy.

lisa.tisdell@fairfaxmedia.com.au