It wasn't until she went through a divorce at 58-years-old that she started a long, desperate struggle to find somewhere affordable to live.

"I sold the family home to finalise the divorce settlement," Lyn said,

"I tried to get a loan to buy a small unit and found I couldn't get a loan, even though I worked all my life."

Ms Bailey spent more than a decade renting, until she retired from nursing at 69-years-old.

"I knew I couldn't afford to continue to afford that unit on the pension," Lyn said.

Read more: Evicted Oak Flats mum told to put disabled son in care, stay in refuge

She exhausted much of her super and savings, and again started the anxious search for somewhere affordable to rent.

"I would inspect a place and there would be 50 of us lining up to see a one bedroom unit," Lyn said.

"There would always be somebody in the queue that would say they were prepared to pay $100 extra for a unit that I couldn't afford anyway.

"I thought if worse came to worse, I could live in my car."

Lyn fell into luck when an affordable housing property became available from community housing provider the Housing Trust in November two years ago, but she can't help but think about the thousands of other older women facing homelessness.

Women over the age of 55 are the fastest growing cohort of people experiencing homelessness, and the issue has become the subject of a NSW upper house inquiry.

Lyn submitted her experience to the inquiry with the hope of effecting much needed change.

"When I went public with my plight, I had so many other women contact me in the same situation," Lyn said.

"I added my voice because others might be too frightened ... because the thing housing insecurity does is not only create unbearable stress, but also feelings of shame and guilt and thinking 'What did I do wrong?' when really this can happen at no fault of your own."

Lyn said interest rates for home loans must be made lower for older, single women facing homelessness so they can have a chance at entering the market, and added there is a chronic shortage of social and affordable housing in the Illawarra.

Read more: Unanderra family of four living in tents for past two years

She also addressed in her submission that women are at higher risk of homelessness due to women earning less than their male counterparts.

"Being in the nursing profession I have very much been affected by getting less income than my male colleagues," she said.

"I also had four children along the way and spent a few years working part time to care for them, so I didn't have the super behind me."

The inquiry will look into how the housing situation has impacted the number of older people being forced onto the street.

It will also focus greatly on data collection and best practices in other states and overseas, while also paying particular attention to the impacts on older women.

Housing for the Aged Action Group Inc executive officer Fiona York said there are 16,000 people over 55 on the waitlist for social housing in New South Wales, who are waiting up to 10 years for a home.

She welcomed the inquiry and called on the newly-elected Labor Government to build build 5000 social and affordable homes every year for the next 10 years, with 20 per cent allocated to older people.

"We need to start thinking about renting as a realistic and viable option for older people," Ms York said.

"For that to happen, we need an increase in social housing, we need a range of reforms in the rental laws to make sure that older people have security of tenure, and can live there as long as they need."

Submissions to the inquiry closed last month, and the committee is due to hand down its recommendations by September 30.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.