SHDA seeks faster permits, digital shift for housing sector

Insider Spotlight

• SHDA adopted a seven-point roadmap covering permitting, digitization, taxation, affordability, infrastructure and housing innovation
• Industry discussions highlighted a mandatory 15-day service-level agreement for License to Sell approvals and digital tracking of development permits
• Consumer research showed 61 percent of prospective homebuyers prefer locations just outside cities, while 57 percent want to remain within 30 minutes of family
  
  
  
  

The Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA) is pushing a seven-point industry roadmap aimed at accelerating housing delivery as developers contend with permitting, affordability and infrastructure challenges.

Adopted at SHDA’s 34th National Developers Convention in Taguig, the resolutions call for continued engagement with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, simpler government transactions and participation in technical working groups covering housing permitting and licensing. The convention gathered more than 400 stakeholders on Sept. 16 and 17. 

Regulatory streamlining

The roadmap puts regulatory streamlining near the center of the industry’s agenda. It supports government-to-government digitization and computerized land titling, while seeking stronger housing taxation initiatives that include a review of the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act and land valuation.

SHDA also committed to greater collaboration on affordable and sustainable housing, development opportunities around economic corridors and infrastructure requirements involving waste management, water, electricity and connectivity. The final plank calls for housing projects and interventions that respond to changing demographics, economic conditions and buyer preferences.

Zero-backlog initiative

Updates presented during the convention included a mandatory 15-day service-level agreement for License to Sell approvals, a zero-backlog initiative across regional offices and 100 percent digital tracking for development permits. Participants also discussed an electronic housing one-stop shop, land acquisition and conversion, 4PH project processes and eNotarization.

The agenda extended beyond regulation to demand trends. Survey findings presented at the convention showed 61 percent of Filipinos planning to buy a house within three years prefer living just outside a city. Opportunity was cited by 78 percent as a location and accessibility consideration, while 57 percent preferred living within 30 minutes of family.

Translating it to action

“A convention is only as good as what happens after it ends. These resolutions give our members, and the agencies we work with, something concrete to hold each other to,” SHDA chair Engr. Francis Richmond Villegas said in a press statement.

“Two days of dialogue mean nothing if we don’t act on them. These resolutions are how we make sure this convention outlasts the days it happened in,” SHDA national president Kerwin Padua said. —Vanessa Hidalgo | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma