Gov’t eyes sale of over 12,000 housing units

State-run shelter agencies are selling over 12,000 housing units that have been foreclosed but are ready for new occupancy.

Celia Alba, secretary general of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, said Tuesday in an interview over dzRB that the units would be showcased during the HUDCC-led Housing Fair 2011 at the Megatrade Hall of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.

“Each unit includes the house itself which is unoccupied,” Alba said. “Prospective buyers need not worry about having to deal with uncooperative occupants.”

The housing units were previously owned, but housing agencies had to acquire them because the owners could not keep up with payments.

She said a unit costs as low as P50,000 and as high as P2 million, adding that the units up for sale have been chosen particularly because they are “problem free.”

“We are offering discounts of 30 percent for cash payments and an average of 15 percent for installment payments,” Alba said. “We have partner agencies that buyers can go to for financing.”

One of HUDCC’s partners is the Home Development Mutual Fund, popularly known as Pag-IBIG.

According to Pag-IBIG president Darlene Berberabe, re-acquired housing units are spread all over the country.

Berberabe said that for those trooping to the Megatrade Hall, they may be interested in units located in Metro Manila, numbering about 200 units, apart from those in Batangas, Laguna, Cavite and Pampanga.

Based on HUDCC documents, some 620,000 households may need new shelters in 2011.