Government studies plans to build 150,000 ‘socialized’ housing units by 2011

Thursday, 11 November 2010 13:46 Max de Leon / Reporter

THE government is now lining up several schemes to achieve its target of building 150,000 socialized housing units by 2011, including those for the relocation of squatters or informal settlers.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also housing czar, said one direction they are considering is lowering the interest rates for housing loans through Pag-Ibig that would be affordable to the masses, particularly loans in the P400,000-and-below bracket.
“Now it is 6 percent [per annum] for P400,000 and below. Maybe we could reduce that for that amount to 5 percent,” he said, adding that for loans in the P300,000 level, the plan is to bring the interest rates down to 4 percent, and then 3 percent for P200,000 and below. 
Also, Binay said the government will seek the help of local government units in undertaking socialized housing projects. “The LGUs can provide the lots and we will provide the financing.”
He said this would enable the offering of housing units on the P70,000 to P80,000 price levels and lead to reducing the current backlog of about 3.7 million houses.
The government will also strictly implement the law that requires developers to allocate at least 20 percent of their total investments to socialized housing and the development of socialized housing should be spread throughout the country and not just in provinces near Metro Manila, he said.