Better prospects for informal housing sector seen this year

Better prospects for land tenure and homeownership await the country’s informal settlers this year with the institutionalization of radical program reforms last year under the government’s Community Mortgage Program (CMP), which provides more funds, bigger loans, easier access and faster processes in loan availment, according to the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC).

In a year-ender radio interview, Felino M. Rosales, NHMFC officer-in-charge and executive vice president, also reported that NHMFC president, Lawyer Angelico T. Salud, is putting on "emergency footing" the implemention of the agency’s urban poor home financing program this year upon the mandate of Housing Secretary Michael Defensor, concurrent chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

This is in response to the government’s commitments to accelerate the delivery of social services, particularly housing for the underprivileged, as provided under the recently-adopted National Socio-Economic Pact 2001, and also in compliance with the earlier housing pledges made by President-Arroyo in her State-of-the-Nation address, Rosales said.

Among the major program reforms made last year to meet the informal sector’s increased loan need is the adjustment in CMP loan entitlements up to P100,000 and P85,000 per family-beneficiary, for those in Metro Manila-highly-urbnized areas; and those outside these areas, respectively; up from the previous respective ceilings of P80,000 and P60,000.

For this year’s lending, NHMFC has also sought the approval of government subsidies amounting to P1 billion to sustain the loan requirements of some P23,000 CMP beneficiaries, Rosales informed.