Villar urges monetary, banking reforms to spur housing sector

Senate President Pro-tempore Manuel Villar Jr. called yesterday for sweeping reforms in the government’s monetary and banking policies to solve the country’s massive housing shortage.

He urged finance and banking officials to sit down and craft policies that would promote the growth of the housing industry and provide affordable homes for Filipinos.

"There seems to be no concrete effort by government to create an environment conducive to the growth of the housing industry," Villar complained.

He cited the practice of pegging down payments for the purchase of homes at 20 to 30 percent, compared to the international norm of only five to 10 percent.

"This (20 to 30 percent) amount is not affordable to middle and even upper income earners," he said.

Villar called for lower rate of down payments to enable more people to afford homes.

He also urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to draw up incentives for banks granting long-term credits to spur the housing industry. He noted the absence of affordable long term credit for potential homeowners.

He called for lower interest rates for home buyers and that down payments made in the purchase of a homes should be tax-exempt.