Government to revisit housing policies

by Louise Maureen Simeon – The Philippine Star, 31 Aug 2021

MANILA, Philippines — The government plans to review existing policies and regulations surrounding the country’s housing industry to sustain gains and improve the sector.

The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has created seven sub-technical working groups that will revisit laws and previous issuances, and recommend up-to-date measures for the sector.

These include housing classification or categorization and price loan ceilings, issuance of temporary license to sell, repeal of annotation policy, extension to complete housing projects, housing one-stop processing center, compliance to a balanced housing program, and public rental housing policy.

“This review is part of our proactive measures to keep the housing sector vibrant and to ensure that all existing policies remain relevant and adaptive to the changing times,” DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario said.

“We need to update previously issued policies to sustain the gains in the housing and urban development sector,” he said.

The TWG will review the technical standards of Batas Pambansa 220 signed during the Marcos administration, as well as prevailing housing price and loan ceilings in the country.

BP 220 authorizes the defunct Ministry of Human Settlements to establish and promulgate different levels of standards and technical requirements for economic and socialized housing projects in urban and rural areas.

All reviews are expected to be completed within the year.