By Roderick L. Abad / Photos by Nonie Reyes
AMID reports on the lack of socialized housing in the country due to low interest among real-estate developers to this market, First RGP Land Development Corp. bared that it will continue its foray into building quality, yet affordable, homes for the marginalized sector.
The new property player’s upcoming residential project will be in Bacoor, Cavite, and cater to low-income earners or informal settling families (ISFs).
According to First RGP Chairman Resty G. Perez, it will cost around P540 million to build the 1,200 socialized dwelling units—each priced at P450,000.
This project follows their completed integrated community in the municipality of Naic, which will soon house government employees, like teachers, policemen and firemen, as well as the former ISFs of Las Piñas waterways.
Mindful of the perennial housing malaise the country has been facing over the years, First RGP aims to provide decent homes, particularly for mid- to low-end classes. “We are serving our profit interest and, at the same time, serving the poor and the needy,” noted the public-relations consultant and property developer.
This thrust, according to him, is contrary to a recent report that property developers in the country are mostly not inclined to enter the socialized housing category of real estate due to low margins.
While it is a normal business practice to reduce or control cost to optimize income, Perez said they do it the other way around.
“Although our company is very new, we would like to change the thinking of the business community, especially in this kind of endeavor, that we are doing exactly the opposite of the conventional wisdom of maximizing profits,” he stressed. Citing their initial project, called the South Morning View, that sits on a 12-hectare property in Naic, the First RGP chairman boasted their use of Jack Built Modular Block System, which is an expensive, yet strong, type of construction material.
He added their generous provision of a 36-square-meter area for each of the 1,180 units of socialized housing and up to 24 s qm area for each of the 400 economic dwelling units.
“In principle, I agreed to do the project [in Bacoor], not with 1,700 units [as originally requested by the municipality], but with 1,200 units,” Perez said, citing the limited land area.
Seeing that the housing backlog—currently at 5 million, including 2 million for socialized housing—is constantly rising at 300,000 annually, he urged both the government and industry players to work together to address this national concern.
“I would like to reach out to our government and other developers, and tell them that we should help our people, especially the poor, by building decent housing units for them. Given the backlog, it cannot be done by just 10, 20 or 50 developers. We need to come together to build homes for these people,” Perez said.