Pag-Ibig loans drop, housing backlog hits 3.7M, says group

Posted at 10:02 am September 20, 2011

Tags: Government Offices

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By Anna Valmero

MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA— More Filipinos from low- and middle-income families are having difficulty availing of government housing loans, according to the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA).

SHDA national president Manuel Crisostomo cited the 3.7 million housing backlog was a result of the decrease of home loans approved by the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig) and the stricter application measures after the Globe Asiatique fiasco.

Pag-Ibig “take outs” have dropped to P2.4 billion per month this year, which is 37 percent lower than over P4 billion approved loans in 2009.

Moreover, the stringent housing loan rules implemented by Pag-Ibig has denied thousands of loan applications from low- to middle-income families who are in need of a decent house.

“Pag-Ibig accounts for 65 percent of all the total home loans in the country, while the remaining 35 percent are provided by banks and other financial institutions who only cater to wealthier applicants. This leaves a big disparity in giving the poor access to home loans,” Crisostomo said.

The computerization project of the Land Registration Authority is another blow to the housing sector. With the current project to link all registries of deeds nationwide, LRA has delayed the transaction process for loan application from seven days to over three months.

“Instead of being able to move in to their new homes, families have to pay their rent instead of moving into and paying the amortization of their own homes,” he added.

To resolve this, the SDHA will hold a convention together with industry partners and the government to rationalize reforms on October 14.