Housing Issues in the Philippines

As of May 2020, the National Capital Region was home to the second-biggest population in the country, covering over 13.48 million Filipinos. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority also shows that the country has over 33 highly urbanized cities (HCUs). Out of the 33 HCUs, more than half, or 16 are located within NCR.

Four HCUs have likewise gone past the one million population mark, with three of these being in NCR, namely, Quezon City with 2.96 million, Manila with 1.85 million, and Caloocan with 1.66 million.

As a developing country, we face issues such as traffic and congestion of vehicles and people. Housing issues have been an area of concern from previous government administrations up to the present. The current Marcos administration plans a six-year course of action with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to construct over six million housing units by 2028.

With Housing Assistant Secretary, Avelino Tolentino, this would place the backlog at 6.5 million units. Previously under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino program, the target was set at 200,000 units per year.

According to a study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) titled Measuring Housing Affordability in the Philippines, “Understanding housing affordability is key to addressing the housing problem.” 

The study was published in August 2022 and discovered that low-income and poor households in the country are not able to afford proper housing. In the study, an average Filipino household goes through housing stress because of inadequate housing near places of livelihood and work, adding to the fact that they are ineligible to apply for loans or mortgage financing.

Aside from this, the housing issue is aggravated by other factors such as inflation and the growth of residential prices surpassing incomes over time.

The study ends by saying that the government should actively prevent spikes in residential and land prices while reevaluating the public sector’s role in access to housing affordability.

Source: Philippine Institute for Development Studies, CNN Philippines, Industry PH, PSA, Manila Times,