Richard*, a 21-year-old apprentice from Orange, had a disagreement with his flatmate, moved out, took up residence in the car, and hit Tinder.

"I matched with someone, met up with them, stayed the night, and thought I could probably use this to my advantage."

So began Richard's time of being homeless and swiping right. Over two months, in between couch surfing with mates or camping out in the station wagon, he scored a bed and a shower from the hook-up app about 10 times with five different people.

"It was probably one of the most disgusting things I've ever done," he says now.

Most of the time, Richard didn't tell his Tinder dates about being homeless and he'd pretend his house was too crowded to have visitors. He didn't tell his workmates either, and to this day only a few close friends know of his two months sleeping rough.

"I didn't want to be known as the homeless guy."

"I felt very ashamed."

Spike in young 'hidden homeless'

Richard was one of the 'hidden homeless' - the thousands of young people who are homeless but mostly out of sight, crashing on couches and sleeping in cars. In the last four years, their number has increased by 33 per cent, according to analysis of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data.

Homelessness Australia, the national peak body for organisations working with the homeless, says last year 14,233 15-24 year olds who were couchsurfing sought assistance from homelessness services.

It blames the lack of affordable housing.

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Richard says his apprentice wage wasn't enough for a lease in Orange and he didn't have time to look outside of his 60-hour work week.

He says all the other share houses in Orange were looking for girls.

"I had no luck with that," he says.

The flatmate he had disagreed with eventually moved out of his former share house and he moved straight back in. The landlord upped the rent $20.

Hack also spoke with a social worker who says most of the homeless teenagers she works with use Tinder on a regular basis.

The social worker, who asked not to be named, says high-risk teenage boys and girls in residential care were "really resourceful" with finding a bed.

"All the high-risk teens are utilising Tinder," she said.

"It seems to work."

*Name has been changed