HUDCC wants low-cost housing cap raised

The interagency Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) is pushing to raise to P3 million from P2.5 million the cost of low-cost, mass housing units that will qualify for tax incentives under the 2011 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP). Vice President and HUDCC chair Jejomar Binay said Wednesday the agency agrees with the inclusion of mass housing as a preferred activity in the Board of Investment’s (BOI) 2011 IPP. However, the council is opposing a BOI proposal that defines low cost mass housing as those that cost P2.5 million and below — which the board considers affordable housing for the middle class. HUDCC defines low-cost, mass housing as those that cost between P751,000 and P3 million. Housing that falls under this category will qualify for incentives under the 2011 IPP. Among the preferred sectors listed in the 2011 IPP are agriculture, agribusiness and fishery, automotive manufacturing, energy, green projects, infrastructure, mass housing, public-private partnership projects, research and development, shipbuilding, strategic projects and tourism. The 2011 IPP was submitted to Malacañang in February but Aquino administration is yet to approve it. Binay said HUDCC needs to meet with the Department of Finance and the BOI to resolve the issue that is postponing the approval of the 2011 IPP. According to the Vice President, tax incentives on units that cost P3 million and below would encourage developers to create more low-cost, housing projects that would address the housing backlog estimated at around 3.6 million units. In the first quarter of 2011, the BOI gave less tax incentives than in 2010. Only 23 mass housing projects worth about P6.87 billion qualified for tax breaks from 40 worth about P13.1 billion a year earlier. — BC/VS, GMA News