(Featured photo courtesy of Philippine Star)
The Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) have merged in order to address huge housing backlog that has accumulated overtime.
“The current housing backlog is at 6.5 million housing units. By 2040, it is predicted to balloon to 22.6 million units,” Chairman of the HUDCC Eduardo del Rosario said during a House of Representatives budget hearing.
Based on the number given by Chairman del Rosario, it is certain that the cost to build the number units will be an amount that is a far cry from the actual existing budget. For 2020, the housing sector has been given a budget of P6.29 billion. This has significantly increased based on the allocated 2019 HUDCC of P2.9 billion.
However, according to the Chairman del Rosario, P50 billion per year is needed to close the growing housing gap. He explained that the allocated 2020 budget for housing is still inadequate to reach the target of 131,000 units built per year based on the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) for 2017 to 2022. “With the current approved budget, the agency will only be able to construct an estimate of 12,161 units,” he added.
The HUDCC has been urged to come up with ways to address the growing housing challenges faced by the country. The creation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) seeks to solve this issue once it is operational by January 2020.
The signed Republic Act 11201 by President Rodrigo Duterte last February 2019 aims to merge the HUDCC and the HLURB. DHUSD is said to act as the primary national government agency to handle housing management, human settlement, and urban development. Tasked to develop strategies to solve housing issues in the country.
(Sun Star CEBU, Philippine Star)
