Land use EO eyed to speed up issuance of housing permits

To cut red tape in the processing and approval of housing permits, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), in coordination with the Subdivision and Housing Developers’ Association (SHDA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Agriculture (DA), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is working on the issuance of an Executive Order adopting a "proactive national land use planning allocation and zoning process," said HUDCC Chairman Mike Defensor.

The EO exempts from the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (RA 6657), all lands zoned as residential, commercial and industrial or other zones already approved by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) as urban zones under the Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) and Zoning Ordinances of cities and municipalities. The exemption means that separate applications from the Department of Agrarian Reform will not be needed anymore.

The CLUPs prescribe the development pace, direction and strategies for the full use of land resources in a community. Together with local zoning ordinances, they also serve as the main basis for issuing locational clearances and development permits for subdivision projects.

Private real estate developers had earlier complained against the slow process of converting idle or agricultural lands into housing subdivisions due to red tape. The bureaucratic red tape results in higher costs to developers, estimated at 18 percent of investment for every month of delay for a 1,000-unit housing project.

"This EO which is supported very strongly by the private developer groups will unclog pending projects and speed up the completion and delivery of an estimated 100,000 housing units within eight months," Defensor said.

Meanwhile, HUDCC has proposed to the President, the proclamation of nine additional public lands as housing sites which will benefit more than 9,000 families.

The public lands are located in the following areas:

• Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) property in Merville, Villamor Air Base (2.29 hectares)

• Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) radio station site in Ma-a, Davao (8.9 hectares)

• Certain parcels of land in Glan, Saranggani (3.62 hectares)

• Bgy. Caasinan, Cabadbaran, Agusan Del Norte (17.55 hectares)

• Camp Makabulos, Tarlac (four hectares)

• Air Transport Authority (ATO) property in las Pinas (12 hectares)

• DOTC wireless station in Malvar, Davao City (4.5 hectares)

• Certain parcels of land at the sanitarium reservation in Baguio City (11 hectares)

To carry out the disposition of the declared lands, an Inter-Agency Executive Committee will be created composed of HUDCC as Chairman, Department of Environment and natural Resources (DENR) as Vice-Chairman and the following as members: National Housing Authority (NHA), Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), Land Registration Authority (LRA) and concerned local government unit and homeowners’ associations.