Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) President and Chief Executive Officer Federico Laxa said the government is planning to establish a one-stop shop for socialized housing projects.
Laxa said the initiative was proposed by newly appointed Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Ramon "Ping" Aliling. SHFC is an attached agency of DHSUD.
According to Laxa, the one-stop shop will streamline the processing of permits and other requirements from the DHSUD, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
"When I was in the private sector, it took me six months to get all the requirements for one project. But some developers would take about a year," Laxa said in an interview on DAILY TRIBUNE's Straight Talk on Wednesday.
With the establishment of the one-stop shop, Laxa said the government can fast-track the construction of housing projects amid a reported shortage of housing units and an aggressive push for SHFC’s Community Mortgage Program (CMP).
As a government agency, SHFC provides financial assistance to families in informal settlements so they can legally acquire land and homes.
Under the CMP, SHFC offers affordable financing by accepting collective payments from all members of a community of informal settlers in a given area.
SHFC purchases the land from legal owners and offers beneficiaries long-term amortization plans of 25 to 30 years. This approach allows informal settlers to remain in highly urbanized areas where they already work or have access to job opportunities.
Laxa said DHSUD is coordinating with the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development to determine the accurate number of housing backlogs across the country.
DHSUD is now reviewing the figure because the government will have to deal with [or prioritize] the poorest of the poor," Laxa said.
He added that the government's housing program has already led to several vertical housing projects in San Fernando City in Pampanga, Davao City, and Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental. The Pampanga development is expected to benefit 10,000 families, while the Davao City project offers over 7,000 units.
Laxa also said the government has revived socialized housing projects along rivers and estuaries in Caloocan, Valenzuela, and San Jose del Monte in Bulacan.