Govt rejects previous social housing list, says allocations will follow new rules
He said a new set of rules governing government housing schemes was introduced in November last year.
Top Stories
Housing Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib said on Sunday that the current administration will not allocate flats based on the full list of beneficiaries announced by the previous government under the social housing scheme, stating that the list did not meet required standards.
Speaking at a press conference at the President’s Office, Dr Muththalib said the government’s housing plan for the current five-year term is to construct and deliver 12,000 housing units in the Malé region. Of these, 7,700 units are designated as social housing.
According to the minister, the social housing units will include 4,000 units funded with assistance from India, 3,000 units under the Bank of Maldives housing scheme, and 700 units financed through bilateral arrangements.
He said a new set of rules governing government housing schemes was introduced in November last year. Shortly after the first round of the presidential election, the previous administration published a list of proposed beneficiaries ahead of the second round.
That list stated that 4,939 applicants were eligible for two-bedroom apartments and 3,721 applicants were eligible for three-bedroom apartments, totalling 8,660 individuals.
Responding to a question on the status of that list, Dr Muththalib said the government does not consider it a fair or complete basis for future allocations. He said the list was released close to the election and that applicants were informed through the portal that they were eligible without clear justification.
The minister said the criteria applied at the time lacked clarity and could not be assessed on an equal basis. He cited examples where multiple applicants shared facilities without clear guidelines on eligibility or residency verification.
As a result, he said the government will not use the previous list when allocating flats under future social housing schemes. He added that the administration does not accept that flats built by the current government should be allocated to individuals listed under a process it considers flawed.
Dr Muththalib said that individuals who received documentation for social housing units but were not allocated flats by the previous government will need to apply again under the new rules.
On 16 November, the government announced a new housing policy titled Housing for All, along with revised rules governing the allocation of land and flats under the policy.
