Philippine Senator Escudero Urges Tapping Unsold Condo Units for Government Housing Program
Key Takeaways
- •Senator Francis G. Escudero proposed tapping existing real estate inventory, including unsold condominium units, as part of broader efforts to expand affordable housing in the Philippines.
- •Colliers Philippines estimates the National Capital Region holds about 80,000 unsold condominium units, many of which were originally intended for the Philippine offshore gaming operator market.
- •The POGO industry was ordered by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to cease operations in the Philippines by the end of 2024, leaving many units without their intended occupant base.
- •Escudero suggested integrating the excess units into the expanded 4PH program, the Marcos administration's flagship housing initiative addressing a nationwide backlog of roughly 6.5 million units.
- •He also urged steps to lower homeownership costs and improve mass transit so Filipinos can live outside major urban centers, though his remarks included no timeline or implementation mechanism.
Senator Francis G. Escudero said on Tuesday that existing real estate inventory should be tapped as part of broader efforts to create affordable housing and make decent homes more accessible to Filipinos.
According to a statement, the senator raised the proposal over the weekend on his Chiz Wiz! podcast, where he was joined by Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Undersecretary Marisol DL. Anenias and Colliers Philippines Research Director Joey Roi Bondoc.
Mr. Bondoc said the National Capital Region — Metropolitan Manila, the country's capital and largest urban market — holds an estimated 80,000 unsold condominium units, many of which were originally intended for the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) market. The POGO industry was ordered to cease operations in the Philippines by the end of 2024 under a directive announced by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. With the industry's exit, many of those units were left without their intended occupant base.
The excess units can be integrated into the expanded Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program, allowing more families to acquire decent homes through existing residential infrastructure, the senator noted. Commonly known as 4PH, the program is the Marcos administration's flagship housing initiative, which seeks to provide affordable housing to low-income Filipinos and address a nationwide housing backlog that official estimates have placed at roughly 6.5 million units. Set against that backlog, the estimated 80,000 unsold units in the capital region amount to only about 1.2% — a scale consistent with the senator's framing of inventory use as one component of broader efforts rather than a complete answer to the housing gap.
Alongside these measures, Mr. Escudero said the government must also pursue steps that lower the overall cost of homeownership, encourage the productive use of existing housing inventory, and improve mass transit systems so Filipinos can live outside major urban centers while still accessing employment opportunities. His remarks did not include a timeline or implementation mechanism for folding unsold units into the 4PH pipeline.
The DHSUD serves as the national government's primary agency for housing and urban development, while Colliers Philippines is the local research arm of the global real estate services firm Colliers.
Report by Francessca S. Abalos, BusinessWorld Online.
Source: BusinessWorld Online
