"We are currently exploring a scheme for 1 million vertical homes [apartments or high-rise buildings], which we discussed yesterday with the Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir," Hamzah said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He noted that the SOEs Ministry's involvement followed a proposal to establish an agency similar to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to serve as an offtaker for subsidized housing projects developed by state-owned enterprises.
"There will be an offtaker agency. That means homes built by developers and contractors must be absorbed, as our housing backlog has reached 15 million units," he explained.
Hamzah emphasized the need for an offtake mechanism to support the planned housing production and ensure smooth distribution.
"If the backlog is 15 million homes and we build 1 million a year, particularly vertical housing and some landed homes, we need an offtaker to prevent marketing bottlenecks and to create an orderly queue of buyers," he said.
The proposed "Bulog for Housing" would buy subsidized homes from government-approved developers, creating a market safety net and helping set a government purchase price (HPP) to keep prices affordable without disadvantaging developers.
Hamzah added that this effort must be supported by a robust housing database and the implementation of Presidential Instruction No. 4/2025 on the National Social and Economic Single Data (DTSEN).
The database would also help ensure transparent, accountable, and efficient distribution of housing assistance.
"We are building a system that ensures the queue is clear and fair. Priority will be based on categorized digital queuing, not personal preferences or manual decisions, but on the actual system we've prepared," he said.
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Translator: Arnidhya Nur Zhafira, Martha Herlinawati Simanjunt
Editor: Anton Santoso
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