ACT Housing figures compared with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the number of public housing properties has stagnated as Canberra's population has increased.

In 1991, the proportion of public housing for a city with 280,132 people was 11.91 per cent.

In 2011, the proportion had fallen to 7.8 per cent for a population of 328,586 and separate government figures show, in 2014, a further decline to 7 per cent.

In 1991, there were 91,460 private dwellings in the ACT which had grown to 139,620 by 2011.

The data, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, shows that the number of properties in total has remained relatively stable but the type of housing stock has changed over the past two decades.

In 1990, the year after self-government, there were 7932 houses, 3324 units and 816 specifically for older persons accommodation.

As of June 30, 2013 the number of houses had decreased by 424, units fallen by 680 and accommodation for older persons has increased by 883 properties.

According to the figures the ACT had the largest number of public housing in 1996 when there were 12,500 properties and the lowest was in 2003 when the number reached 11,382.

ACT Shelter executive officer Leigh Watson said an increase in public housing was a key concern for the organisation because there was not enough affordable accommodation for thousands of families in the ACT.

"We'd love to see it increased but that's obviously not going to happen so that's why we've proposed the community housing option as a way to increase social housing overall," she said.

"We would like to see the government proactively pursue that avenue in the same way that they are pursuing opportunities around the light rail."

The ACT government is embarking on plans to redevelop the public housing in the Northbourne Precinct along the main route of the envisioned transport system.

ACT Shelter is advocating for the areas to be redeveloped with a mix of housing types including private dwellings, social, public and community housing.

"We should take a step back and have a discussion and do some research about what is the best mix for good social outcomes for the community as a whole," Ms Watson said.

ACT Housing and Community Services executive director David Collett said the current 7 per cent figure was already significantly higher than other jurisdictions but the government was looking at opportunities to grow the stock.

"The issue there of course is that Canberra continues to grow and residential development has grown quite strongly over the years," he said.

"The fact that we've been able to maintain that 7 per cent represents in itself a pretty good performance."

The ACT government had committed under the parliamentary agreement with the ACT Greens an aspirational target of a growth in public housing to reach 10 per cent of Canberra's total dwellings.

The Federal government's Nation Building and Jobs Plan Initiative contributed to an increase in the size of the public housing stock when $87 million was allocated to the ACT for construction of properties.

About 421 properties were constructed under the plan, according to the government's public housing management strategy, lifting the total stock from less than 11,500 to just under 12,000.