I came across a Gallup survey saying the Philippines has the world’s most unaffordable housing. This was surprising to me. I used to think richer, industrialized countries had the biggest housing problems because of their billionaires and millionaires. Finding out that a developing country like ours faces an even worse crisis is alarming. We need to act now to fix this. So where do we begin?

Representatives Luigi and Migz Villafuerte from Camarines Sur have proposed House Bill 8813 to address the housing shortage by allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the Philippines. Currently, the National Building Code restricts how much of a lot can be built on to keep open spaces and prevent overcrowding. In many Western cities like San Francisco, an ADU is a smaller, fully equipped home with its own kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and entrance, built on the same lot as the main house. These are considered secondary homes. House Bill 8813 would make an exception to the usual building limits, aiming to quickly add more housing options in the city.

This idea seems promising, and I appreciate the congressmen for quickly suggesting a program that has worked in California. But the main question is whether it will work here. I’ll look at both sides, why it could work, and why it might not.

Looking at the positives, I think this proposal could work from a cost perspective. Land prices per square meter or hectare are extremely high, which is usually the main reason housing is so expensive. ADUs avoid this cost because they are built on land that homeowners already own. This cuts costs a lot, since the main expense would be building the ADU. With inflation rising and the effects of the Iran war, building materials and shipping costs have gone up. By not having to buy new land, homeowners can save money. This approach would work best in the provinces and less-dense cities, where lot sizes are usually bigger than in Metro Manila. You could build many houses on those large pieces of land.

On the downside, I see big challenges with this proposal in Metro Manila, where urban planning is complicated. ADUs work best on large lots, and in Metro Manila, these are mostly found in gated subdivisions for the wealthy, which are closed to the public. I doubt these subdivisions would allow ADUs, since they might see them as a threat to security and to increased density. If these communities did allow ADUs, more people would live there. This raises another issue: how would these people get around? Public transportation in Metro Manila is poor, with few reliable options, so most people would need to use private vehicles. Having helped plan some of these gated communities, I know the current roads aren’t built for more traffic. New ADU residents would add to the city’s already-busy roads, worsening traffic because we lack a strong public transit system.

This brings me to my main point: solving the housing shortage is not just about building more homes. Simply putting up new houses on empty land isn’t enough. We also need to think about the social and economic effects of people moving into these areas. Is there good public transit to get them to work or school? If not, are the roads wide enough for more cars? In case of a medical or fire emergency, can the current roads handle more people, especially since the area is already crowded? Are there places for shopping and leisure nearby? Are there jobs available in these new housing developments? Until we address these issues, we won’t be any closer to solving our housing problem.