Property group appeals vs higher housing quotas

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s largest association of housing and real estate stakeholders has appealed against proposed bills in Congress increasing the current mandatory balanced housing compliance quotas for subdivision and condominium developers, saying this will bring a screeching halt to projects already in the pipeline and suppress the resurgence of the property sector from the negative effects of the pandemic.

In a statement, the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (CREBA) expressed alarm over House Bill 1234 filed by Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, which will jack up the mandatory compliance by condo developers to up to 20 percent, while House Bill 3589 filed by Rep. Michael Romero will require subdivision compliance to as much as 25 percent. The group said such changes are untimely and anti-development.

Under the Urban Development & Housing Act, developers of subdivision projects are required to build socialized housing units equivalent to 15 percent of their total project area or cost in order to help accelerate the country’s housing production rate in exchange for various types of incentives.

Condominium developers, in turn, started carrying the same social burden for up to five percent of their total project area or cost since 2016.

CREBA national president Noel Cariño said any further attempts at over-regulation or over-taxation would ultimately affect affordability because developers have no choice but to pass on any additional cost to the homebuyers.

“Further increases in balanced housing quotas violate what is supposed to be a ‘cooperative’ atmosphere and conducive environment where government is supposed to act as a business-friendly enabler rather than a stifler of growth.”