The Long Island Housing Partnership says rents are going up between 5% to 7% annually on Long Island.

Crews are breaking ground in Kings Park on an apartment building that will have 46 units, five of which will be affordable rentals, which is the required state minimum for new housing complexes.

"Using the word affordable gets a bad rap, but we desperately need housing for our next generation, for our workforce, and this serves that need," said Anthony Bartone, of Terwilliger & Bartone Properties.

Developers say projects like this will help with high demand and low supply of rentals in Nassau and Suffolk for both fair market and affordable units.

Housing advocates say affordable rentals are usually priced at 30% of the household's income.

"We have a very small housing stock of rentals," said James Britz, with the Long Island Housing Partnership.

That's why Britz says rent prices keep rising.

"The supply is very little compared to the demand out there," he said.

The Long Island Housing Partnership says it is seeing an increase in rents year over year on Long Island. They say rents are going up between 5% to 7% annually, and for some that translates to an increase of more than $100 a month in rent.

"Depending on the size of the units and what they're getting, studios, it may be a little bit less but any two bedrooms, three bedrooms, obviously, could be in the $100 to $200 range a month increases," said Britz.

Britz says more buildings like the Kings Park project will help control the rising price of rentals on Long Island.

"The more supply we can create hopefully that will lower the demand and bring in more affordable rents," he said.