ACT doing such a 'great job' on housing that homeless are coming here

Ms Berry made the claim during a Legislative Assembly estimates committee hearing on housing on Friday, also saying homeless people, and those at risk of homelessness, may be moving to Canberra.

Ms Berry and Housing ACT officials faced a series of questions on public and community housing in the city from both the Opposition and Greens during the hearing.

It comes in the wake of sustained criticism of the government's affordable housing targets, as land prices and median rents have soared in the city, leaving few properties affordable for the lowest-earning Canberrans.

Ms Berry told estimates she was hearing anecdotally that "more and more people are coming to the city, to the ACT, because we have such a positive message when it comes to supporting people who are at risk of experiencing homelessness or who are experiencing homelessness".

"Now, if there is a conversation about what's the sort of solution to how we're going to resolve housing affordability across the country, well we're doing our bit and we're doing a great job," she said.

"And our homelessness support system is providing the best, absolute, support for the people who need it in our community."

Last week Greens Assembly member Caroline Le Couteur also called on Ms Berry to release a long-awaited housing strategy for the ACT.

But Ms Berry said in the hearing the new strategy was "not just about developing a shiny brochure", it was about having a "sophisticated approach" to the issue by seeking the community's views and then developing options.

"Of course in the ACT we can't address public housing on our own, the rest of the country has to take some responsibility as well, including the federal government," she said.

"If we were the only state or territory to be building public housing in the country, we could build 2000 public housing properties this year and we would still need 2000 more because everybody would be moving to the ACT."

Ms Berry was asked three times by Ms Le Couteur why the government specifically chose 60 as the number of new public housing sites in the 2018-19 land release program.

Ms Berry said "the housing renewal will continue", to which Ms Le Couteur replied "No, I appreciate there's a housing renewal program, I am aware of that, I'm just wondering why the decision was made at 60?".

"So everybody knows ... to be clear there is nobody more who wants to increase our public housing stock in the ACT than me," Ms Berry responded.

"The ACT government has continued to over a number of years maintain public housing stock at the highest per capita in the country and despite our population growth, we continue to have a lower homelessness rate than others in the country."

The 2018 Report on Government Services found the ACT had 50 people suffering homelessness out of every 10,000 residents, higher than all other jurisdictions except the Northern Territory, though the ACT did have the highest number in "supported accommodation", at 30 per 10,000 residents.

However, the report also shows the ACT had the third-highest proportion of people attending a homelessness service with an "unmet need" for shelter, at 32.6, higher than the national average of 30.3, and behind only NSW and Victoria.

The planning directorate's Simon Tennant said he knew there had been a "high level of criticism" about "what appeared to be quite low community housing targets", at 34 sites in 2017-18 and 20 this year.

But he said flat percentage figure targets had led to "perverse outcomes" in the past, and the targets now were based on "site by site" assessments, and the targets were also based on the capacity of Canberra's community housing.

Mr Tennant said that capacity was about 12 affordable properties a year, but the government was "absolutely hearing the criticism" of the targets in 2017-18 and 2018-19, and was working with the sector on better targets for year three, 2019-20.

Asked later whether she could further explain her comments on the target and any evidence to back her claim that more people at risk of homelessness were moving to Canberra, Ms Berry declined to make further comment.