The DAB on Thursday called on the government to double the amount of transitional housing available for people waiting for a public flat.

This was among several ideas the party presented to Financial Secretary Paul Chan and his deputy Michael Wong at a meeting.

There are currently around 20,000 transitional homes and the DAB thinks the government should double this to meet demand.

Party lawmaker Edward Lau said being as it will be hard to increase public housing supply in the coming five years, transitional homes could fill the gap in the meantime.

"The government should include transitional housing as part of the work of its newly established task force on public housing projects. Such flats should be part of the housing ladder. We hope the government can take over [from social enterprises] the construction for transitional housing and its allocation," he said at a press conference.

Lau also called on the government to study whether the peripheries of country parks and greenbelt land are suitable for housing development.

He said officials should also increase the plot ratio when it comes to future new towns so that more flats can be built.