Informal home loans get boost

Availment of loans by community associations of informal settlers to buy the land they occupy and for house improvement under the government’s Community Mortgage Program (CMP) is expected to get an added boost with the second wave of reduction in the loan documents required under the program.

Further reduced from 23 to 18, the CMP loan documents originally comprised of 56 documents until these were reduced October of last year by 59 percent to 23.

This was in compliance with President Arroyo’s order to cut by at least 50 percent the requirements for loan availment under the government shelter program, according to Angelico T. Salud, president of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) which administers CMP.

CMP is the home financing component of the government housing program catering to the housing loan needs of informal settlers, who have organized themselves into duly-registered community associations to avail of group housing loans for the purchase of an undivided tract of land held under the concept of community ownership.

The recent wave of reduction in CMP loan documents was contained in NHMFC Corporate Cir. No. CMP-028 recently issued by NHMFC.

Salud also announced that NHMFC will join the National Congress of CMP Originators and Social Development Organizations for Low-Income Housing in conducting a series of training workshops on the liberalized loan guidelines for the informal settlers.

To be undertaken by the Kahugpungan ng Mindanao, Inc., one workshop will be for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the various cities of Mindanao who are either already accredited or wish to participate as loan conduits under CMP, particularly those coming from Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, General Santos, and Zamboanga City.

Said housing NGOs have become reliable partners in assisting informal settlers in on-lending P209.3-million loans, comprising 63 percent of total loans granted last year under the program, Salud added.

Meanwhile, the Private Consultative Council for Shelter (PCCS) has called on its member-organizations to participate in developing socialized housing projects to be undertaken in all congressional districts of the country under the government’s Local (District) Housing Program.

Romeo Thaddeus Liamzon, Jr., PCCS chairman, made the call following the recent issuance by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council of the amended implementing guidelines for the Local Housing Program.

A unified consultative and advocacy body for affordable housing, PCCS is composed of six major real estate organizations, including the National Real Estate Association; Women in Shelter and Its Environment; Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines; Builders Alliance Toward Action; Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association; and the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA).

Liamzon cited that district housing may be undertaken by the National Housing Authority, on its own, or through joint undertaking/joint venture arrangements with local government units (LGUs), other government agencies, and private sector proponents including landowners, developers, non-government organizations, cooperatives, community associations or people’s organizations.