A lawmaker over the weekend said he will push for the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide affordable housing to the poor.
Party-list group 1-PACMAN’s Rep. Michael Romero said the creation of DHUD would address the issue of backlogs in mass housing projects of the government.
“To date, there are housing backlogs that need to be addressed and the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development will concentrate government’s efforts to resolve this,” Romero said.
The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council estimated the backlog at 1.4 million units this year.
Under the proposed bill, the powers of HUDCC and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board would be consolidated under the DHUD to give the new department more teeth in policy making.
Romero noted that HUDCC, with its oversight function and overall coordinator of government policies for the housing sector, had limited resources and authority. The HLURB, meanwhile, has a bigger role in providing town planning assistance to local governments, real estate management and regulations and adjudication of cases involving buyers in subdivisions and condominiums, and disputes of homeowners associations.
“The HLURB has vast powers while the HUDCC chair has limited authority in policy making. The DHUD will address this weakness,” Romero said.
The bill also mandates key shelter agencies National Housing Authority, Home Guaranty Corp., National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., Home Development Mutual Fund, and Social Housing Finance Corp. to operate under their present mandate but will be attached to DHUD for policy and program coordination.
“Basically, the function of the DHUD is to address the housing problem in urban centers and resettlement areas in coordination with the private sector,” Romero said.
The DHUD will formulate the national and urban development and housing policy and strategy to ensure consistency with the Philippine Development Plan and the National Physical Framework Plan to promote social and economic welfare.
It will supervise and integrate all government activities related to housing and urban development, and come up with efficient housing finance policies.
The department will also manage and oversee the development of proclaimed housing sites, including the use of land as resources to raise funds in developing new housing projects that will serve as central relocation sites for informal settlers.