Key reforms to accelerate housing deliveries under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s flagship Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) program marked the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development’s thrust at the start of 2026.

Building on the gains of 2025, the DHSUD has implemented a series of policy and operational measures to increase the housing output and improve service delivery for homebuyers, informal settler families, and private developers nationwide.

Human Settlements Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling said the strong start in 2026 reflects the President’s directive to fast-track the delivery of decent, safe, and affordable housing while ensuring that reforms lead to measurable outcomes on the ground.

“The DHSUD ended 2025 on a positive trajectory and we opened 2026 with a clear objective in line with President Marcos Jr.’s directive to continue and accelerate the delivery of housing for our fellow Filipinos, especially those who are most in need,” Aliling said.

As the department marks its seventh anniversary with the theme, “Seven Years of Continuing Service: Celebrating Our People and Partners in Building Homes, Building Communities, and Building Happiness,” Aliling underscored how policy reforms, program expansion, and a people-centered approach have strengthened the administration’s housing and urban development agenda.

Created in 2019 by virtue of Republic Act 11201, the DHSUD consolidated housing and urban development functions under a single department. In 2022, it launched President Marcos’s flagship 4PH program, which was further recalibrated and expanded in 2025 following the assumption of Aliling.

Policy, regulatory reforms

The DHSUD and the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) recently issued Joint Memorandum Circular 2025-001 updating the price ceiling for socialized housing.

The circular raised the maximum selling price to P950,000 for socialized house-and-lot packages and P1.8 million for condominium-type units, while increasing the minimum floor area to 24 square meters.

The DHSUD also directed the release of all compliant applications for Certificates of Registration and Licenses to Sell (CR/LS) within the first 10 working days of 2026.

As a result, 129 pending applications filed in 2025 were acted upon by DHSUD Regional Offices and the Housing and Real Estate Development Regulation Bureau.

Aliling emphasized that the directive applies strictly to fully compliant applications, consistent with existing laws, rules and regulations.

Enhanced scheme

Under the Enhanced Community Mortgage Program, the DHSUD, through the Social Housing Finance Corporation, has approved 36 ECMP sites nationwide expected to benefit 15,000 individuals.

Additional approved projects are also set to provide security of tenure to more than 30,000 beneficiaries.

The program continues to advance people-centered, community-driven housing solutions, enabling informal settler families to attain land ownership through collective action and government support.