PRIORITY: BRING DOWN COST OF HOUSING FAST
Developers tell HUDCC Chief Leoncio Evasco Jr. that it sometimes takes them 18 months to prepare all the requirements before they can start building. They raised issues during the Housing Summit 2017 in Cebu.
To increase affordable housing production as well as bring down the cost of houses will be the Duterte administration’s key agenda for the housing sector, said Cabinet Secretary and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chief Leoncio Evasco Jr.
“I am telling the people in the housing agencies not to ask for anything because the President (Rodrigo Duterte) does not want that to happen. The president has zero tolerance for corruption,” said Evasco, who was in Golden Prince Hotel in Cebu City last Friday for the National Housing Summit 2017 themed “Pagbabago Para sa Industriya ng Pabahay.”
Evasco said he was confronted recently by some private developers who expressed dismay with the government for the delays in permits, as well as inconsistencies in policies that hamper their housing production.
As a result, Evasco said, he will meet with the six shelter agencies within this month to discuss and find solutions to the problems. Evasco believes the cost of housing is high due to corruption in government offices where some government officials ask for kickbacks and developers, being business people themselves, pass these on to the buyers.
“The long time to develop (housing projects) is due to the unnecessary delay in the getting of permits. If this can be shortened, then the cost can be lowered,” said Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP) President Marcelino Mendoza, who appealed to the government to streamline their processes.
On average, developers said it takes a year and a half to comply with all the documents needed before they can start building.
Other key concerns raised by developers were the two-year moratorium on agricultural land conversions, lack of mechanisms for the full implementation of socialized condominium, imminent removal of VAT exemptions on low-cost and socialized housing, and delisting of houses above P2 million from the government’s proposed Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) 2017-2019.
The Philippines records a housing backlog of 5.6 million.
In 2016, developers built 250,000 housing units, which wasn’t enough to meet the backlog. But if the Duterte administration can solve bureaucratic delays and address these other issues, the industry can easily double their production, said OSHDP chair George Richard Siton.
After meeting with the six shelter agencies, Evasco said, he also will coordinate with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to discuss the private developers’ concerns about delays in the LGU level, including delays in releasing building permits.
Evasco also met with the housing industry players in Mindano last Feb. 11, and is scheduled to meet with the developers in Luzon on Feb. 14. The primary concern is on how to provide homes to informal settlers, especially those in danger zones.