Annual Report 2010 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2010HousingThe government believes that havinga decent house is the foundation fora prosperous family, which ensureshousehold stability, strengthens thesocial fabric and ultimately enableshouseholds to make their fullestcontribution to the development of theeconomy. The well developed housingsector is considered a good proxyto measure strength of a country’seconomy and the wellbeing of itspeople. In view of this, the “MahindaChinthana” development frameworkhas given high priority to thedevelopment of the housing sector.Therefore, improvements andexpansion of housing is required inboth rural and urban areas. Accordingto the NHDA, in 2007 total housingstock in the country was 4.3 million.It is estimated that the country needsto build 100,000 houses per year,nationwide, until 2020 to meet shortsupply and backlog of housing stock.Due to increases in incomelevel and changing lifestyle, thegovernment housing policy hasshifted towards encouraging privatesector to participate in the housingdevelopment and financing to meetthe housing need of the middleand high income groups while thegovernment becomes a strongregulator and facilitator. However, thegovernment continues its contributiontowards meeting the social housingneeds of the vulnerable groupssuch as low income families, estatecommunities, underserved settlers andwar affected families.Ministry of Construction, EngineeringServices, Housing and CommonAmenities has carried out severalhousing programmes during theyear 2010. Around 1,000 houseswere constructed under the JanaSevana Housing constructionprogramme and another 2,500low income families were providedwith cash grants and technicalassistance to construct their ownhouses. Meanwhile, the Ministryof Economic Development,under the North East HousingReconstruction Programme, built16,585 housing units were build inthe war affected areas. The UrbanDevelopment Authority was ableto raise the Rs. 10 billion by issuinga debenture to construct housesfor the underserved urban settlersof the Colombo area. The requiredprovisions have already beenmade to construct 2,100 housingunits in Salamull in Kolonnawa andDematagoda utilizing this fund.Chart 1.61 > Investment in Housing Sector2008 - 2010Rs. mn3400330032003100300029002800270026002008 2009 2010Source: Department of National Budget121