The Manila Times Internet Edition | BUSINESS >Mass housing projects surge in 1Q

The Manila Times Internet Edition | BUSINESS >Mass housing projects surge in 1Q

Monday, May 04, 2009


Mass housing projects surge in 1Q

By Ben Arnold O. De Vera, Reporter

AMID higher cancelations among mid- to high-end projects, mass-housing investments registered with the Board of Investments (BOI), however, nearly doubled in the first quarter this year, according to the incentives-giving agency.

Preliminary data gathered by The Manila Times showed that 15 low-cost, mass housing projects have been registered with the BOI at end-March this year, up from 12 in the same three-month period last year.

Moreover, the total investments this year ballooned by almost 90 percent to P3.498 billion compared with P1.842 billion in first three months of last year.

Low-cost housing ventures awarded incentives by the BOI have risen continuously since the incentive-giving agency included mass housing under infrastructure activities in the annual Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) beginning 2003.

According to BOI data, the incentive-giving agency registered three low-cost mass housing projects totaling P268.482 million in 2003; seven worth a combined P260.644 million in 2004; 22 worth a total of P1.408 billion in 2005; 16 costing a combined P1.433 billion in 2006; and 51 worth P9.416 billion in 2007.

Last year, low-cost mass housing investments registered with the BOI reached P38.261 billion for a total of 98 projects.

The BOI last week said it granted tax incentives and other perks to another low-cost housing project, Citihomes Builder and Development Inc.’s P120.9-million housing venture named Residencia de Muzon.

The agency said Citihomes Builder and Development would construct 594 units in an 8.1-hectare tract of land in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan. Commercial operations would start this month, and the company would take in 200 workers, the BOI said.

Trade Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez, who is also BOI managing head, earlier said the agency is mulling an expansion of the perks for investments with huge multiplier effects and job-generation potentials, such as mass housing projects, in light of the current global economic slowdown.

President Gloria Arroyo has yet to sign this year’s IPP, but Trade Secretary Peter Favila told reporters last week that the draft list went through another round of consultations after Malacañang went over the document.

Hernandez had said the BOI was aiming for the first-quarter approval of the IPP, adding the agency is expediting work on the plan’s guidelines.

The 2009 IPP includes a “contingency list,” unique to this year’s plan, which would provide incentives to firms and existing projects and activities that would retain investments and maintain workers, retain investments and increase the number of workers, increase investments and maintain their number of workers, or increase both investments and number of workers.

What does this say or mean:

moladi has been prepared to play a major roll in the supply of technology to this market - low cost housing

The BoP (Bottom of the Pyramid)in housing is the sector where there is phenomenal growth opportunities in a global market irrespective of a "Global rececion".

The Base of the pyramid is the most stable if you have a product that caters for it's needs - moladi is the technology and low cost housing and affordable housing is the product.

Construction companies and contractors alike need to change the way they do business, otherwise they will not survive the change in the market.

This trend is not unique to the Philippines but is a Global Trend. This is happening in Mexico, Brazil, India, Africa, middle East, etc...

Read more about moladi construction solution at www.moladi.net

For more on moladi

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LOW COST HOUSING design concept

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