The Government Monday publicised the temporary lists of applicants for flats under the 'Hiyaa Public Housing Project'. The lists pertain to the categories H4 (Doctors and Nurses), H5 (Teachers), H8 (Male' Resident) and H10 (Persons with Disabilities and Family). While 46 people were disqualified from the H8 category in the revised list, 4461 meeet the requirements to be eligible for social housing.
Changes have been brought to the allocation of flats to the categories. Although the previous government intended to award 1,000 flats to the Male’ Resident category, the number has now been revised to 1,772 by reducing the number of flats allotted to the remaining categories. In this regard, 233 flats will be awarded to Doctors and Nurses category instead of 475 flats, and the number of Teachers flats have been reduced to 523 from 625. The flats allocated for single parens were reduced from 500 to 423 and those assigned for married individuals between the age of 18 and 40 were reduced to 805 from 1,000.
During a press conference held Monday, Planning Minister Mohamed Aslam said 5122 families that reside in the Maldives do not have permanent housing. While they do not have other options with regard to home ownership in other islands, the government believes it is most fair to provide more opportunities for such individuals through social housing programs. Aslam said Male’ residents do not live in the capital out of choice, and that land acquired through inheritence is no longer adequate for single families.
