NT Shelter chief executive Mr McMillan said Katherine was in urgent need of more social housing, with hundreds of families currently on the waitlist.

"We remain very concerned about the lack of new housing that's coming online," he said.

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"We've got a waitlist at the moment of 535 families waiting for a home in Katherine and the wait times aren't getting any shorter, they're now up around six to eight years."

Mr McMillan said the shortage of social housing in places like Katherine should be a major talking point at the upcoming federal election.

"Advocates across Australia in this space are asking for the major parties to have a plan that will see more social and affordable housing built through a national housing strategy," he said.

"We're looking for relief for struggling renters as well."

It comes as the NT Government announced its plan to transfer more than 2000 of its public housing properties across the Territory into the management of Community Housing Providers (CHPs).

NT Shelter executive officer Peter McMillan welcomed this announcement, saying it would not provide more housing immediately but would lead to better outcomes long-term.

"There won't be additional houses built as a result of this announcement immediately. It's as part of a jigsaw puzzle of getting more housing over time," he said.

"It transfers a number of assets to community housing providers to run instead of the traditional public housing model, which the Minister has acknowledged isn't fit for purpose.

"It's decades old, it's not doing the job that it needs to and these organisations...return the profits that are made back into new housing, which is what we desperately need in the Northern Territory," he said.

Urban Housing Minister Kate Worden said the Northern Territory Community Housing Growth Strategy 2022-32 includes funding for "redevelopment opportunities" and the construction of additional social and affordable housing across the NT, including in Katherine.

"This includes $9 million from budget 2022-23 and $13.3 million rolling out from current funding," Ms Worden said.

"We are always looking at new ways to improve our housing across the Territory, this includes building new accommodation in Greater Darwin and a $4 million investment to build 16 new social and affordable homes in Katherine for 16 new homes."

NT Shelter is also calling for the incoming federal government to commit to funding the construction of a short-stay accommodation facility in Katherine, reiterating its calls for the NT Government to prioritise it in their 2022-23 budget.

"We know that Lingiari is one of the key seats in this election. This is an opportunity to appeal to those voters in remote booths that come to town for medical treatment, and for other reasons and have to sleep rough," he said.

"And this is an opportunity for an incoming government to rectify that situation which has been long standing whereby visitors to town have an opportunity for a safe place to stay, somewhere that's appropriate and affordable as well."

The organisation has requested the NT Government commit to funding any ongoing operational costs of the facility.

However, Ms Worden did not directly answer a question from the Katherine Times as to whether or not the NT Government would commit to working with an incoming federal government to establish the facility.

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