P493M set aside for socialized housing in Central Visayas this year: HLURB 7

• Share On FacebookShare On MyspaceShare On StumbleuponShare On DiggShare On EmailShare On Print|Share On Facebook_likeMore|

By Mia A. Aznar

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

OUT of billions worth of housing projects in the Central Visayas area, some P493 million has been allocated for socialized housing this year. And out of several project locations, only three are for socialized housing, two of which are in Cebu.

Data from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) 7 show that of all projects that have been granted certificates of registration and licenses to sell for January to September this year, projects for socialized housing, or units under P400,000, are the lowest in number and project cost. There are 327 socialized house and lot packages being sold in Lapu-Lapu City and 100 lot-only packages being sold in Bogo City.

Check our new look and tell us what you think.

Still, the project cost is higher compared to the total project cost for this housing category last year, which was at P237 million. However, there were six projects, five of which were in Cebu.

Residential condominiums have a total project cost of P2.63 billion with a total 3,410 units. All 10 condominium projects are in Cebu, nine of which are in Cebu City while one is in Mandaue City.

For the whole of 2011, 12 condominium projects reached P2.6 billion with 749 units.

Open market projects rank second in project cost, with P1.82 billion. Out of 17 open market projects, 11 are being developed in Cebu. There are 603 house and lot units and 529 lot-only packages.

Last year, 20 open market projects cost a total of P957 million, 122 of which were house and lot units and 2,227 were lots.

Economic housing projects, or units for less than P3 million, number about eight in the region, six of which are in Cebu. Total project cost reached P1.086 billion, with house and lot units numbering 428. There are only 50 lot-only packages in this category.

From January to December 2011, all 15 economic housing projects cost P453 million for 521 house and lot units and 393 lots.

Engineer Roy Lopez, HLURB 7 director, said that since he became director, he made sure all housing developers selling units over P400,000 have complied with the law requiring them to provide 20 percent of their gross land area or project cost for socialized housing.

He admitted that since raw land in Cebu costs high, most developers opt to leave 20 percent of their project cost for this requirement, rather than look for land to develop for this segment.

He assured that they do not issue a license to sell until the developer can provide proof such as subdivision plans that they are complying with the requirement.

Aside from Cebu’s bustling economy, he believes development in this area is quick because he made it a policy to approve projects within 21 days upon filing of complete requirements. He added that no other office in the region has made the same guarantees.

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 11, 2012.

Socialized Housing's New Issues.

By Charles E. Buban

Philippine Daily Inquirer

WE MAY NOT realize it, but improving the standard of living here in the Philippines may depend on one sector that as of now receives meager support from both the government and the private sector.

“Indeed, socialized housing is one sector that seldom gets attention despite the fact that its revitalization may alleviate the condition of around 30 million Filipinos who are currently living near or below the poverty line,” notes Linda Tan, president of the Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines.

Tan admits that even for the country’s top property developers, little is devoted to socialized housing considering the many challenges involved, seeing little return on their investment is just one of them.

“This is why, in 1995, small property developers and those with substantial investment in socialized and low-cost housing projects formed the OSHDP. Aside from strengthening our collective voice, our organization believes someone must take up the cudgels for the sector otherwise a third of Filipinos would forever remain renting their homes or living as squatters and in subhuman conditions,” says Jefferson Bongat, OSHDP vice president.

According to Bongat for this year, OSHDP has several issues it would like to tackle with the housing authorities and lending institutions:

1 More sources of funds for those availing socialized housing units. “Currently, the only reliable source of loan is the state-administered Home Development Mutual Fund, also known as Pag-Ibig Fund. In fact, it offers the lowest interest rates in the market: 6 percent for loans up to P400,000 and 7 percent for loans above P400,000 to P750,000,” says Sonny Ducay, OSHDP director and PRO.

This means borrowers in the P400,000 housing loan package will only have to shoulder a monthly amortization, for 30 years, of P2,398.

According to Ducay, this monthly payment may already be manageable for a family earning about P7,400 a month.

“It was also great that Pag-Ibig Fund has increased its total budget for its housing loan programs in 2009 to P84.5 billion in order to cater to the strong demand for low-cost housing. While we expect a similar increase in allocation this year, we also would like banks to formulate a similar package that would allow our borrowers to avail a more accommodating housing loan package. These families also deserve to be trusted,” Ducay says.

2 Exemption from “cash advance” that utility providers ask developers of socialized housing projects. One of the major challenges a developer has to deal with these days is the need to shell out additional money to initially shoulder the cost of installing the needed facilities before service could be provided. For example, Meralco would require “cash advance” for the posts, cables and transformers before electricity will be provided.

The same goes with water providers who require a similar arrangement before water could start to flow into the houses.

3 Price stability of building materials. Ducay says the continuously rising price of raw materials—cement, steel, etc.—affect property developers, big or small.

“But the impact is much more pronounced in small developers whose budget is just enough for the project,” Tan says.

To remedy this, OSHDP is now talking to its members for the possibility of collating their requirements for the year so OSHDP could purchase materials in bulk to receive discounts.

4 Providing incentive for materials suppliers including hardware. OSHDP believes socialized housing projects should be regarded differently.

According to Bongat, the group will formulate a proposal to the Board of Investments and the Department of Finance that would provide a reward system like tax incentives to suppliers who would give much lower or discounted price of their products.

5 Using solar-powered street lights. Bongat reports that OSHDP has approached a China-based firm specializing in inexpensive solar-powered products including solar street lights.

“It’s not only just love of the environment. If we could put up solar-powered street lights on our socialized housing projects, then the poor families that will live there will have less bill to worry about. In fact, we could eventually build a self sustaining community that will rely less on the power grid,” Bongat says.

6 Centralizing land allocation for housing development. While there are advantages of assigning the job of identification and allocation of land for housing development in the hands of local government units, OSHDP believes that not all local zoning officers are knowledgeable enough to perform their mandate.

“It’s a highly technical task that if you are not qualified, there is a huge chance of ruining your community’s zoning. It’s no wonder that we have members who complain about being given a property that is beside a cemetery, which is of course, not very attractive if you are selling your project to a prospective homebuyer,” Ducay explains.

He reports that together with other organizations involved in the housing sector, OSHDP has been pushing for a more streamlined, consolidated and unified activity.

“This will result in less number but more qualified people to deal with not to mention effective and efficient delivery of service,” Ducay says.