HOW can growth in housing be sustained? This will be among the key questions when the Organization of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP) meets in Cebu next month for a two-day convention.
The group is also working on a partnership with local governments that will provide rental housing for the poor in urban centers, which will be a first in the country.
“Just like food and clothes, housing is also a (basic) need,” said Marcelino Mendoza, OSHDP president, in the press conference where the group announced the convention, which will be held in Marco Polo Plaza Hotel on Aug. 23 and 24.
One of the convention’s goals, apart from encouraging developers to sustain housing projects, is to help government ease the process of doing business in their communities.
The organization has thought of proposing to the government an express lane where permits for socialized housing developments can be expedited.
Christopher Tan, OSHDP general counsel, said that with the help of the law and their field experience, this proposal can take off, and convention would be a good venue to explore it, with government officials attending.
Some of the government officials who are expected to address the convention are House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Sen. Joseph Ejercito, Sen. Win Gatchalian, and Sen. Cynthia Villar.
The state of Philippine housing programs, sustainable housing solutions, measures in sustaining housing growth, and innovations in construction technology are some of the topics that will be tackled during the convention.
“It is a convention where the industry helps one another, and when each one of us helps one another, we’ll become stronger,” said Tan.
As of 2015, 12 percent of Filipino households occupied a multi-unit residential building.
The same report, which the Philippine Statistics Authority released in March 2018, said that as of the 2015 census, 55.3 percent of the total 24.22 million housing units in the country belonged to the household that occupied it. About 44.5 percent of the households were renting either the house or lot, or both.
A segment of the housing convention in August will seek to connect developers with potential funding sources, while another will be for government officials to discuss policies related to issuances that will affect business.
It will be the organization’s first national convention in Cebu. Tan hopes that firm commitments will be forged at the convention between the sector and government. (Jerra Mae Librea, USJ-R intern)