Rent for Hulhumale’ flats set at MVR 6,000

The government has set the monthly rent for social housing units which will be issued from Hulhumale’ at MVR 6,000.

Speaking during a press conference this Wednesday afternoon, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu said the decision to set the rent at MVR 6,000 was made by President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Muizzu said the housing units, which will be issued from Hulhumale’ under the State Housing Project, will be three-bedroom apartments with attached toilets.

“We have opened the opportunity this time for three-bedroom attached toilet apartments. The rent of these apartments is MVR 6,000. No three-bedroom apartment will be available from Maldives – certainly not in the Male’ region – for MVR 6,000. So, President Yameen has arranged this for the people for a very low rate,” said Muizzu.

He said the down payment for the apartments was MVR 25,000.

Muizzu said the full payment can be made over a period of 25 years. And that ownership would be transferred once the full payment was made.

“Sections of the agreement will detail procedures which need to be followed in order to transfer ownership sooner,” said Muizzu.

Muizzu said every Maldivian would accept it was a low-cost housing scheme.

He also noted the issue of housing units being sublet. He said additional measures would be put in place to address the issue.

“The tenants are chosen through a touch screening process. So they need to actually live there. So those who win the apartments will be obliged to live there when the agreement is made. We will repossess the apartments if they don’t live there,” said Muizzu.

Muizzu said that 25 apartments had been allocated for people with special needs in Category I and Category II. He said 78 of the people who won apartments from Category I had a family member with special needs, while 39 of the people who won apartments from Category II had a family member with special needs.

He said that, therefore, 167 families with special needs had won apartments through the scheme.

He also said that the Ministry had reviewed the apartments won by both spouses – which totaled 19 apartments. He said the previous decision had been revised, and that only one of the spouses will be awarded apartments, with the rest awarded to other families.