While high-end properties in Myanmar are being built at a record rate, there is increasing need for low-cost housing, experts told a forum.
“YCDC has permitted 20 building that are over 20 storeys and three buildings with more than 30. These projects are typically constructed on a build-operate-transfer basis. But people of all economic classes have to be considered while approving housing projects,” said U Myint Mo Swe, a former deputy director at the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development (DHSHD), said at the forum.
However, he said there are no exact policies regarding the ratio of high-end properties and low-cost housings in Myanmar, and no convenient way of implementing this.
U Nay Min Htet, deputy director at DHSHD, said there is a difference in demand in different areas of Yangon, and it is “difficult to fulfil the demands of everybody” in the city.
He said, “The government must act as the negotiator between private investors in commercial housing projects and the community, and there must be areas set aside for low-cost housing projects.”
Experts told the forum that the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) should step in during the project negotiations and also provide support for buyers to avail finances to purchase units at housing projects.
