Govt set to roll out new housing schemes in the atolls

The Housing Ministry has announced plans to roll out new public housing schemes in the atolls, in addition to the ones launched in the greater Male’ area.

The plans to launch new housing projects come after the latest statistics released by the Finance Ministry shows that only 5 percent of the housing budget has been utilized, nearly half-way into the year.

State Minister for Housing, Ahmed Nazim Mohamed told Public Service Media (PSM)’s ‘Raajje Miadhu’ program on Friday night that the new housing schemes will be launched within the next one-month period.

According to Nazim, the schemes will be run based on two models; an affordable housing model and schemes designed to facilitate financing from banks so people can build on their own land.

“These two schemes are projects we plan to run in the islands, in addition to the existing ones. In Sha Allah, we will be able to launch the two schemes within the coming one-month period,” he said.

Nazim added that 43 islands have applied for the scheme launched by the government to provide financing to support landowners who are unable to complete building their homes due to financial constraints.

The plan to roll out new housing projects in the atolls come amid complaints over stalled infrastructure projects in the atolls.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has filed a motion to question Housing Minister Dr. Abdulla Muthalib over this at the Parliament.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had previously stated that both the 2025 and 2025 state budgets were focused on housing. However, the actual spending on housing projects had been significantly low last year, and continues to be low so far this year.