SUSTAINING HOUSING SECTOR’S GROWTH

Christopher Narciso, Subdivision and Housing Developers Association president, (left) submits to Housing Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. a copy of the housing industry’s issues and the developers’ recommendations to the government during the national housing summit in Cebu City.
CDN photo/Victor Anthony V. Silva

Gov’t urged to address bureaucracy, corruption

Property developers, who see a sustained momentum in the country’s construction business, are asking the government to address the issues in the housing industry such as bureaucracy and corruption, so that the sector can continue to grow.

Christopher Narciso, national president of the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA), said the country’s construction boom is a result of good economic conditions as well as a healthy housing market.

“Numbers will speak for itself. The supply is far less than the demand every year, plus the backlog. With better initiatives in place, if we address a lot of issues, that would sustain the boom. There are other factors there like interest rates, but at the very least, it would sustain or make it bigger,” he said in a press conference following a national housing summit in Cebu City last Friday.

Based on BMI Research’s Philippine Infrastructure Report last Jan. 1, quoted in the Inquirer, the country’s construction sector was seen to sustain healthy growth up to 2021 owing to the administration’s aggressive infrastructure plan.

Company forecasts showed that the Philippine construction sector may grow from P1.09 trillion in 2017 to P1.73 trillion in four years.

The sector’s contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was also expected to expand from 6.8 percent this year to 7.3 percent by 2021.

The summit, jointly organized by SHDA and the Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP), was meant to identify issues in the housing industry and give recommendations to the government on how to address these issues.

Issues

The issues cited included the complexity of permitting and licensing processes, the gravity of delays, and the existence of laws restrictive to developers.

On average, it takes housing developers about one year and six months to secure permits and licenses from various government agencies as well as local government units.

The developers claimed that they were further inconvenienced by government officials that “extort” money from them to make the processes “easier.”

Recommendations

They asked the government to speed up and simplify the processing of applications; allow regional offices to approve permits and licenses; and review the moratorium on land conversion, among others.

Narciso said that these initiatives were meant to address the country’s housing backlog, spread across the socialized, economic, and low-cost market segments.

“If we all work together and these initiatives really happen, then in those respective segments where there is a backlog, either we make a huge dent or eventually see it will be eliminated at a certain point in time,” said Narciso.

The housing backlog in the Philippines currently stands at around 5.5 million, 2.9 million of which is spread in the Visayas.

Engineer George Richard Siton, OSHDP national chairman, said annual housing production can increase by twofold if the government would be able to act on their recommendations.

“Last year, even with problems in the housing industry in permitting, we were able to produce around 250,000 units across segments. If the good (Housing) secretary (LeoncioEvasco Jr.) can address the problems in the housing industry, we can easily double production,” he said.

Secretary’s answer

Secretary Evasco, for his part, vowed to meet with concerned agencies following a series of consultations with housing stakeholders all over the country this month.

Among these agencies are the Departments of Agrarian Reform, Agriculture, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

In exchange, Evasco said he expects developers to bring down the cost of their units.

More than 100 representatives of housing developers from all over the country attended summit.