Legarda Pushes for Creation of Housing Department

Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill seeking to create the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD) which aims to address the country’s housing needs and other related issues through an efficient and holistic national shelter program.

“The Philippine housing sector is replete with enormous challenges, spanning the issues of ever-increasing need for affordable housing provisions, limited access to housing finance, the need for more sustainable housing solutions, and the need to relocate families and households to safer grounds on account of increasing threats of disasters,” Legarda stressed.

“The DHUD’s primary focus is on the access to and affordability of housing and related basic services vital to human needs. It will be responsible in shepherding a more coordinated and efficient national shelter program,” she added.

Legarda said the country needs a more integrated approach in addressing housing needs, adding that with the creation of a housing department, the government will be able to address urbanization and its challenges with greater efficiency and capacitate local government units to effectively respond to the growing needs of urban and rural poor dwellers.

Under Senate Bill No. 37, the DHUD will act as the primary national government entity responsible for the management of housing and urban development. It will undertake the functions of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the planning and regulatory functions of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).

The measure also provides the creation of Social Housing One-Stop Processing Centers (SHOPCs) in the regions, which shall be responsible for the centralized processing and issuance of all required housing-related permit, clearances and licenses.