Improved socialized housing bill OKd on 2nd reading
THE House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on second reading a measure seeking to improve the development of socialized housing projects by streamlining the government’s land procurement for housing programs.
Congressmen approved via voice vote House Bill (HB) No. 10772, which amends a 1992 socialized housing law by allowing the state to procure land for housing development through direct purchase or unsolicited proposals from the private sector.
At present, the government is only allowed to acquire land for housing projects through community mortgages, land swaps, and land donations to the government, among others.
It also seeks to require subdivision and condominium developers to develop 15% and 5% of their total project area for socialized housing projects within the city or municipality of their development, respectively.
The state will extend incentives, including quicker issuances of permits and clearances for socialized housing developments and capital gains tax exemptions on lands designated for socialized housing in a bid to encourage greater private sector participation.
“[This is] a legislative measure that seeks to address one of the most pressing issues of our time: the equitable distribution of housing opportunity across our nation,” Quezon City Rep. Ma. Victoria Co-Pilar, who sponsored the bill, told the plenary. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio