PH Senate approves three measures seeking to expand affordable housing access

The Senate on Thursday gave final approval to three measures aimed at making housing more affordable and accessible to Filipino families.

The measures approved during plenary were Senate Bill No. 2508, or the Residential Emancipation for Calamity Survivors Act; Senate Bill No. 2507, or the Affordable and Decent Rental Housing Incentives Act; and Senate Bill No. 2503, or the Rental Housing Subsidy Act.

SBN 2508 focuses on families affected by calamities, seeking to relieve qualified survivors of their outstanding housing obligations. These include unpaid principal and amortizations, as well as interest and penalties.

The bill also proposes an estate tax exemption for housing units awarded through calamity housing programs of the National Housing Authority.

SBN 2507, meanwhile, seeks to increase the supply of affordable and decent rental homes for poor and low-income families by providing incentives for the development, construction, rehabilitation and operation of qualified rental housing projects.

Under SBN 2503, the government would establish a rental housing subsidy program and allocate funding for its implementation, providing rental assistance to qualified beneficiaries.

The three measures take separate approaches to the country's housing concerns, covering debt relief for calamity survivors, incentives for affordable rental housing and direct rental subsidies for eligible families.

-Paraluman News