Developers reiterate call to cut pointless red tape

CEBU, Philippines — Mass housing developers in the country are calling the government anew to cut-off the unnecessary permits required for socialized housing projects in the country.

The Organization of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines Inc. (OSHDP) and the Socialized Housing Alliance Roundtable Endeavor (SHARE) lamented on the excruciating gridlock among the many government bodies involved in mass housing.

SHARE and OSHDP president Marcelino Mendoza said in a press statement furnished to The Freeman said this bureaucratic red tape has to stop.

Mendoza referred to the permits that developers’ have to comply before starting a socialized housing project, which is too taxing for corporations/developers who are helping  minimize the housing gap in the country.

He cited that accomplishing the permits alone would involve going through 27 offices, 78 permits, 146 signatures, and a total of 373 documents.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law early this year the creation of Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSLUD). Mendoza said, while the law is a welcome development for developers, its creation should involve a paradigm shift in the approach to public housing as a solution to the housing backlog.

DHSLUD mandate should include, among others, putting priority on construction of medium- and high-rise buildings using centrally located government lands, “so beneficiaries in the inner city would be better served.”

He mentioned Singapore as a best example saying the government must provide the necessary funding requirements.

Also, DHSLUD’s primary mandate is to ensure that Filipinos have access to affordable housing, but the Philippines is still suffering for the wide chasm between socialized and middle-end housing supply.

In 2015, the backlog stood at 6.7 million units (priced below P3 million, covering low-cost to socialized housing for the underprivileged and the homeless).

Reportedly, the new housing need for 2016 to 2030 is 5.6 million.

Last year Mendoza announced in Cebu that a creation of a mandated "Express Lane" for affordable housing developers is crucial to address the housing backlog in the country.

Mendoza said while developers are interested to build houses for the masses, most of them (if not all) are discouraged to expand in this kind of projects, as permitting and cost of acquiring documentary permits are high and takes years.

Considering that socialized and economic housing projects only give minimal returns for developers, the government should at least provide a conducive environment for developers, Mendoza stressed.

The bureaucracy in permitting is still one of the major setbacks of developers now, despite the government's effort to curb red tape to address the housing backlog, Mendoza added. (FREEMAN)