\nWhile developers focus on the luxury residential market, the need for affordable housing in the Philippines grows ever more pressing<\/p>\n
Affordable housing is major concern for the Philippines. According to the latest census in 2010, the nation is home to 92.3 million souls and the majority of these people do not own homes because they simply cannot afford them.
While developers focus on the luxury residential market, the need for affordable housing in the...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-1DQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":143322,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/heres-what-tenants-need-to-know-about-bidens-plan-to-cap-rent-hikes-for-some-affordable-housing-units\/","url_meta":{"origin":6314,"position":0},"title":"Here's what tenants need to know about Biden's plan to cap rent hikes for some affordable housing units","date":"April 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The Biden administration moved this week to limit how much rent can rise in certain affordable housing units across the country.\r \r Source : cnbc.com\r Read more...Here's what tenants need to know about Biden's plan to cap rent hikes for some affordable housing units","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87893,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/how-bad-is-silicon-valleys-housing-crunch-more-than-6000-people-applied-for-95-affordable-units\/","url_meta":{"origin":6314,"position":1},"title":"How bad is Silicon Valley's housing crunch? More than 6000 people applied for 95 affordable units","date":"May 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The nation\u2019s housing policy for the poor can feel like a giant lottery. Sometimes it actually is a lottery.\r \r Source : cnbc.com\r Read more...How bad is Silicon Valley's housing crunch? More than 6000 people applied for 95 affordable units","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":77700,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/offices-to-homes-conversion-threatens-supply-of-affordable-units-in-england-finds-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":6314,"position":2},"title":"Offices to homes conversion threatens supply of affordable units in England, finds study","date":"January 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r More than half of all new homes in some areas of England have been created by allowing developers to convert offices without building any affordable homes, an impact study of the policy has revealed. Since 2015, 30,575 housing units in England have been converted from offices to flats without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26592,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/canada-announces-c500-million-for-affordable-housing\/","url_meta":{"origin":6314,"position":3},"title":"Canada announces C$500 million for affordable housing","date":"September 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The BC government has committed C$500 million (US$379 million) in new money to help address demand for affordable housing and create 2,900 rental units in partnership with various groups.\r \r Source : South China Morning Post\r Read more...Canada announces C0 million for affordable housing","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12160,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/why-metro-manila-remains-phs-real-estate-hub-despite-its-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":6314,"position":4},"title":"Why Metro Manila remains PH\u2019s real estate hub, despite its problems","date":"May 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r \u201cWe\u2019re in a period of transition\u201d The National Capital Region, or Metro Manila, remains the Philippines\u2019 economic and real estate hub In Part Two of this\u00a0four-part series, take a look at the rapid progress in the\u00a0real estate sector in the Philippine capital, Metro Manila When John Forbes, senior advisor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10498,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/bloom-holding-to-launch-affordable-housing-project-near-abu-dhabi-airport\/","url_meta":{"origin":6314,"position":5},"title":"Bloom Holding to launch affordable housing project near Abu Dhabi airport","date":"April 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r \r Michael FahyBloom Holding plans to launch a huge affordable project of 5,000 homes close to Abu Dhabi International Airport.The company has a 2.2-million-square-foot plot close to the airport in Madinat Bin Zayed City, which it plans to develop into apartments, villas and town houses, with the apartments comprising\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nExperts estimate that there\u2019s a backlog in the country of at least 4 million low cost units, including half a million in the densely-populated National Capital Region (NCR) around Manila.
\nOthers believe that this estimate is way on the low side, citing figures of up to 5.5 million. Among these sceptics is Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr, son of the country\u2019s controversial former president and leading opposition senator, who recently challenged the national government to address the situation via more funding for the sector.
\nIndustry figures predict the backlog will increase to at least 6.5 million units by 2030 if demand for socialised and affordable housing is not addressed.
\nKnock on effects of this shortfall include an influx of informal settlers in major cities \u2013 especially in the NCR \u2013 increasing congestion, putting a strain on urban sanitation services and contributing to unemployment, which stood at 5.7 percent in October 2015 according to figures from the National Statistics Office of the Philippines.
\nDespite an impressive 25.9 percent annual increase in real estate loans as reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in Q1 2015, minimum wage Filipino workers earning PHP481 (USD10.15) daily are not desirable candidates for a housing loan to start a monthly payment programme for houses valued under PHP2 million (USD42,300).
\nMore: What unchanged lending standards mean for Philippine real estate
\n\u201cAt the moment, the Philippines does not have a comprehensive financing programme for buyers of socialised and affordable housing,\u201d said Jacqueline Van den Ende, founder and managing director of mass-market property portal Lamudi.com.ph.
\n\u201cIn terms of financing, the government\u2019s solution is a provident fund through Pag-IBIG, which is insufficient. In fact, the interest rates of loans offered by Pag-IBIG are quite high. Therefore these loans are unaffordable to minimum wage earners.\u201d
\nA recent quarterly report by Colliers International Philippines stated that housing prices continue to surge in the country, making it even harder for average-earning Filipinos to afford a home.
\nAt the other end of the spectrum, prices for a three-bedroom luxury condominium unit in the Makati central business district of Manila can reach as high as PHP149,300 (USD3,179) per sqm \u2013 an astronomical figure for most Filipinos.
\nThere\u2019s a belief that developers have put all their efforts into mid-to-high-end residential project due to their perceived profitability, while neglecting to build affordable housing. Some of these companies have begun to address this imbalance, however.
\n\u201cDevelopers traditionally categorised as high-end are now venturing into the middle and affordable housing market because they see opportunities in it,\u201d observed Abelardo \u201cJojo\u201d Tolentino Jr, president and CEO of Aidea Philippines Inc, during the Philippines panel of the first Property Report Congress 2015.
\n\u201cFor example, Ayala Land (one of the country\u2019s most prominent developers) now has a socialised housing arm called Amaia Land. These premium developers are seeing that the affordable segment is also a very important market. In reality the low-end segment represents at least 90 percent of the entire Philippine housing sector.\u201d
\nMore: 3 golden growth opportunities for the Philippine real estate sector in 2016
\nFormer senator and real estate tycoon Manuel Villar had significant success in the affordable housing sector through his Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc ventures. Amaia Land, meanwhile, is pursuing projects in provinces where homes cost as little as PHP400,000 (USD8,450).
\nThis mini-boom in affordable housing has made minimal impact in NCR, however. \u201cNo decent housing within the reach of minimum wage earners is available in Metro Manila,\u201d noted Van den Ende.
\nShe suggests that the Philippines needs a cabinet-level government agency devoted to housing, and recommends the creation of a Housing and Development Board-type agency such as the successful model in Singapore.
\nThe Chamber of Real Estate and Builders\u2019 Associations Inc (CREBA) is also advocating through its five-point housing agenda, \u201cA Home for Every Filipino.\u201d The organisation is pushing for the establishment of a \u201cDepartment of Housing and Urban Development\u201d in the country as a necessary reform.
\nMarcos, who is running for the vice presidency, told reporters in Manila last November that \u201cthe problem is simple. There is lack of funds for housing starts.\u201d
\nAs the issue of insufficient affordable housing persists, questions continue to wait for effective answers. Is the crisis caused by over-population? By lack of funding initiatives? Or by the reluctance of major developers to fully commit to affordable projects? Or a combination of all these?
\nWith the next national elections coming up in May, advocates of affordable housing will be able to state their case in more meaningful fashion \u2013 this time at the polls.
\n
\nSource : property-report.com
\nRead more…PHL lacks 5 million affordable housing units \u2013 and that\u2019s just the beginning<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"