DBP to finance housing for informal settlers

State-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will craft a financing scheme to provide housing for informal settlers as part of the government’s thrust to construct six million units in the next six years.

DBP has inked an agreement with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) for a financing scheme that would provide affordable and decent homes for informal settlers.

DBP president and CEO Emmanuel Herbosa said the bank would provide the necessary financial and technical assistance to DHSUD to help address the country’s mass housing requirements.

DHSUD is leading the government’s flagship housing program that aims to build six million housing units by 2028 or one million units per year. It also targets to eradicate informal settlers in the country by that time.

Herbosa said the housing sector is faced by two main challenges namely affordability and access to funds for housing projects.

Under the agreement, DHSUD will identify qualified real estate developers and contractors that will develop the project sites and assist in the preparation of project funding requirements.

DBP, on the other hand, will formulate a loan program focused on providing developmental loans for DHSUD’s housing projects.

Herbosa said the bank’s support is in line with its goal of broadening support to social services and community development such as housing.

“DBP remains committed to fulfill its mandate of influencing and accelerating sustainable economic growth, through the provision of resources – may it be financial or technical for the continued well-being of ordinary Filipinos,” Herbosa said.

As of the first semester, DBP’s outstanding loans for social infrastructure and community development projects reached P98.5 billion or 20 percent of its total loan portfolio.

DBP’s Building Affordable Homes Accessible to Every Filipino program has so far approved nearly P10 billion in loans for various housing projects as of end-July.

The program is DBP’s main credit facility for the housing sector, covering the end-to-end process of housing development from land acquisition to site development and shelter construction.