Three key changes wanted by public to flat/plot regulation

Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Dr. Abdulla Muththalib stated yesterday that there are three key changes that have been made to the government's flat and plot regulation.

The changes were announced yesterday by the Housing Ministry and were all requested by the public.

The new flat and plot regulation was publicized yesterday for Male' residents and those who move to Male' after the regulation that was made public on November 16th by the Housing Ministry was amended.

Upon Mihaaru News getting in touch with the ministry to clarify the changes regarding the the new regulation, Minister Muththalib said that there are three key changes to the regulation that was announced yesterday. These are, being able to apply for a two-room or three-room housing scheme after giving up their previous housing due to facing difficulties, shortening the Male' residency period and making it so that an application can be filed if a spouse does not have housing in the Male' region.

The changes come after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's community meetings which were held in November and earlier this month. The President took into account the concerns and complaints from the public before making this decision. 

As Muththalib stated, the first change is allowing those who give up their one-room or two-room flats which they were given under various schemes by the current government to be able to apply for flats once more.

"One of the changes is allowing those who have received one-room flats to give them up and apply for a three-room apartment. If those who have a two-room apartment have two children of the opposite gender under the age of 18, they can give up the apartment and apply for a three-room apartment," said Muththalib.

However, Muththalib said that even though this change was brought about, priority and points will still be given to those who currently have no housing to call their own.

"Under the point regulation, the most amount of points will be given to those who do not have housing of their own. They will be the ones who are prioritized," said Muththalib.

"There were a lot of complaints during the community meetings regarding families staying in one-room flats and how they wanted to give it up as it was difficult for them to live there. How it was difficult to live in a two-room flat when they have two children of opposing genders. That is why these changes were made."

Those who have been given flats previously can only be given flats, as per the current government's housing policy, if they give up their current flats they had received.

Muththalib stated that the regulation previously stated that Male' residents can only apply for flats and plots if they have been a resident of Male' for five consecutive years. However, the condition has been changed, and the minister stated that the five-year residency period is now at one year.

"Previously, the Male' residency period requirement was to be registered for five years for plot and flat allocation. Now, if an individual has been a resident for a year, they can apply," said Muththalib.

The third change to the regulation is if the spouse of the individual who is applying for a flat or plot does not have housing within the Male' region, then they meet the conditions for submitting an application. As the regulation was before, the spouse of an individual who is applying for a flat or plot must not have any housing in the Male' region. Otherwise, they do not meet the requirements.

"Before this, if either spouse had housing anywhere in Maldives, then they would not meet the requirements. Now however, the condition is not met if the spouse of the individual who is applying does not have any housing within the Male' region. The condition will be met if they still were to have housing on any other island," said Muththalib.

"The main point is we have been saying that we are doing this for familial housing, and so the changes were made as this is a program meant to provide housing for families."

Even though these changes were made, Muththalib stated that the government will still prioritize those who do not have any housing of any sort when awarding flats and plots. The point framework also prioritizes those who have not had any sort of housing, said Muththalib.

As President Muizzu has announced prior, 15,000 plots and 7,500 flats will be given out in the Male' region under the current government's housing policy. The application submission window for flats and plots will open on Sunday.