The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Regional Office 7 (DHSUD-7) has rejected claims that delays in the issuance of licenses to sell are dragging down Cebu's housing market, describing the allegations as “false” and “baseless.”

DHSUD-7 Director Mark Anthony Lindugan said only two applications for licenses to sell remain pending before the regional office and are already in the final stages of approval.

“These two pending applications — one for a residential subdivision and another for a columbarium — do not have any impact on the local housing market contrary to the claim made by A Better Real Estate Philippines. Such claim is plain and simple false,” Lindugan said.

The statement came in response to claims by ABREP president Anthony Gerard Leuterio, who earlier alleged that delays in the approval of licenses to sell had contributed to a slowdown in Cebu's housing sector and that about 10,000 housing units were awaiting approval.

“We have no pending LS applications covering such a huge number of units. Such claim is baseless,” Lindugan said.

The regional director explained that while some applications remain incomplete or have been suspended, these cases involve notices of deficiency in requirements that have already been communicated to developers for compliance.

“Developers are all aware of the NDRs since notices are issued to them by the region,” he added.

Lindugan said the office has streamlined its processes to expedite permit approvals while ensuring compliance with regulations designed to protect homebuyers and other stakeholders.

“We take exception to the claims made by ABREP as this puts our office in a bad light when, in fact, we are just doing our mandate as prescribed by law to protect our stakeholders, particularly homebuyers,” he said.