VP NOLI DEFENDS MINIMUM DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENT FOR BUILDERS

September 20, 2009

VICE President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman Noli 'Kabayan' De Castro defended a resolution of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLRB) which sets a minimum level of development on subdivision and condominium projects for real estate developers before the issuance to sell.

De Castro justified HLURB Resolution No. 830 following a call from developers to liberalize the memo circular.

Speaking during the Developers National Convention 2009 in Makati recently, De Castro said the memo circular was put in place in view of the number of complaints received from home-buyers on the non-completion or non-delivery of projects by developers.

Based on records, De Castro said there are 680 case filed against the top 20 developers in the country. He said 458 of these cases involved unfinished projects while 222 are related to housing units that were not delivered to buyers.

"Merely 40 percent of the projects are done in schedule. Even big developers have projects that are not finished." De Castro said.

As a government housing agency, he said HUDCC and the key shelter agencies are bound to protect the rights of the buyers. He said the government recently adopted an advocacy that encourages buyers to visit the housing units first before they purchase.

"The minimum development that we set provides security for the buyers," he added.

In his meeting with real estate developers last month, De Castro said it was agreed that there is a need to define or specify the minimum development requirement.

This minimum requirement, he said, should at least include road tracing, land clearing and grubbing, and an entrance gate if included in the advertisement for subdivision projects.

For condominium projects, the minimum development required will be measured by the depth of excavation according to the approved plan and excavation permit.

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