He told the Journal he was bitter that as he waited, he seemed to be passed from one housing office to another.

Richard Moroney, 37, has been living with his mother Jocelyn for 10 years.

Mr Moroney said he was trying his best to find a new home for himself and his boys. He said that since an epileptic fit caused him to crash his car three years ago, he had been stricken by panic attacks, seizures and back problems, and unable to return to work as a forklift driver.

"It's tough on us all - my mother and the kids. My mother is in her 60s, she works all day and when she gets home she likes peace and quiet.

"My boys - 16 and 14 - are good but it's when the mates come around it gets hectic. That's when I argue with my mother and the anxiety starts."

Mr Moroney said his sons were returned to his care a year ago.

"Suddenly, I was a full-time dad and had to adjust to the changes. Now I can't get accommodation of my own."

He also helps his mother raise a foster child, who arrived a few months ago. "My mother is selling up to move north, so I've got to vacate the house by next month. I can't sit back and wait. I've got to find a place for my boys and then there's the foster child.

"I want to help him out until his parents build themselves up and get a place of their own."

BUSTED BY THE BOOM

■Affordable low-income house rentals in Greater Dandenong: 14per cent (September-December 2009).

■Affordable rentals in Casey: 18per cent.

■Affordable rentals in greater Melbourne: 9.2per cent.

Source: Department of Human Services website

Median house prices:

■Dandenong: $230,000 (December 2005), $388,000 (December 2009)

■Cranbourne: $217,000 (December 2005), $290,000 (December 2009)

Source: Department of Human Services website

Public housing waiting list (December 2009):

■Victoria: 39,076

■Dandenong (includes people

from Pakenham, Cranbourne and Berwick): 4493

Source: Department of Human Services website