A year is a long time to live in a tent, and for 43-year-old Paul Rogers, there's no end in sight to his homelessness.

Key points: More than 1,000 people attended the Housing Ends Homelessness Expo

More than 1,000 people attended the Housing Ends Homelessness Expo An estimated 1,600 are sleeping rough every night across Tasmania

An estimated 1,600 are sleeping rough every night across Tasmania There are almost 3,500 people on Tasmania's public housing waitlist

Mr Rogers has been living in a tent in his sister-in-law's backyard in Bridgewater, in Hobart's north, for more than 12 months.

He is a type 1 diabetic and also struggles with anxiety and depression.

Mr Rogers said he wants to work, but his current living arrangements have made it difficult to get job interviews and the help he needs to get back on his feet.

"It's hard to get to sleep and put your mind at rest and know that you're going to have a good night's sleep without your tent falling down," he said.

"You sometimes have nights where you have really bad winds and it blows the whole side of the tent in."

Mr Rogers said he's been on the state government's public housing waitlist since January 2018.

There are more than 3,000 people waiting for social housing, and the average wait time for category one applicants such as Mr Rogers is more than a year and three months.

"Obviously they're building houses but how many people are waiting for them," he said.

"They say I'm category one but so are thousands of others.

"The situation is Hobart is getting worse, I don't see it getting any better."

Housing expo attracts 1,000 as public housing waiting list grows

Tasmania's housing crisis is the result of a perfect storm of sky-high rents, soaring property values, a booming short stay accommodation sector, and a growing public housing waitlist.

The State Government has confirmed plans to build hundreds of affordable homes by the end of the 2019/20 financial year, but has stopped short of detailing exact numbers.

Hobart is Australia's most unaffordable city for rentals, and homelessness has been rising over the past decade. ( ABC News: Giulio Saggin )

It plans to release more land for development close to services and will spend $258 million on affordable housing over eight years.

On Sunday the government held an expo in partnership with Hobart City Council, and the not-for-profit, community and housing sectors, to provide information and support to people battling homelessness and housing stress.

More than 1,000 people passed through the doors of Hobart's City Hall during the expo.

"If people can reach out to these services early maybe they can avoid finding themselves or their families in a position of housing crisis," Housing Minister Roger Jaensch said.

"This is about awareness, both for people who need help now, and for people that want to help others and pass on information."

"Under one roof we have a full range of service providers from crisis and emergency accommodation right through to new transportable pre-fabricated housing."

The wait for public housing for category one applicants is more than a year and three months. ( ABC News: Andrew Messenger )

Labor spokesman David O'Byrne said the government has had ample time to come up with concrete measures to fix the crisis.

"This is a government that's had two crisis meetings, and now an expo, and the public housing wait time has blown out from 22 weeks to 66 weeks," he said.

"This government needs to do less talking, more acting and get roofs over people's heads.

"We've had a crisis now for a number of years … and I think the people of Tasmania deserve better."