HUGE rises in rent costs in Notts are "dangerous", it has been claimed.
The National Housing Federation predicts the average private rent in the county will rise by £254 a month by 2020.
In Rushcliffe alone, the rise could be as steep as £309, up to £887 a month.
Projected rises in interest rates and house prices from 2014, along with a shortage of available houses, are being blamed.
A support worker at Emmanuel House, which helps homeless and vulnerable people, said: "It's dangerous. It's not over the top to say that it's a matter of life and death.
"People are dying and that could increase. There is going to be a massive increase in homelessness and theft.
"People will shoplift because that's what they will be pushed into. If you have got a wife and children and no money, what do you do?
"I had a 20-year-old recently who had a shortfall of £120 a month between rent and income. These people are really down and they have got hardly any options."
The average private rent in March 2012 in Notts was £476 a month.
The federation believes this could rise as high as £730 by 2020. City centre rents could climb from £542 to £694. Broxtowe will see a rise from £498 to £763.
The situation mirrors that of the rest of the country.
It comes on the back of a 37 per cent rise in the past five years.
Sue Maslowska, district manager of Broxtowe Citizens' Advice Bureau, said everyone was already struggling with price rises, adding: "It's definitely going to have a huge impact. People are going to face losing their houses.
"Everyone is struggling – every time you go to do shopping all the prices have gone up. It's horrifying."
"People are already worried about their fuel prices rocketing and debt generally is a massive problem."
Government figures show 390,000 new families seeking homes in 2011, but only 111,250 new homes built nationally.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of housing and homelessness charity Shelter, said: "Young people are paying the price for a housing crisis that's been left to reach boiling point.
"The rises in rent prices are being attributed to a projected rise in interest rates and house prices, which the study suggested were likely to kick in over the course of 2014 and 2015.
"It's time to start asking the Government what it's going to do to get a grip on this problem.
"If we want to protect the next generation from a life lived under constant threat of eviction or rent rises, we have to invest in building more good quality, affordable homes."
