Home Affairs and Housing Ministers Sign Joint Decree to Accelerate 3 Million Homes Programme

Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian and Housing and Settlement Areas Minister Maruarar Sirait signed a Joint Ministerial Decree on support for accelerating the implementation of the 3 Million Homes Development Programme at the Sasana Bhakti Praja Building, Ministry of Home Affairs headquarters, Jakarta, on Friday (19/6). Tito stated that the decree provides a stronger legal foundation for regional governments to support the provision of housing for low-income communities. The 3 million homes programme is one of President Prabowo Subianto’s priority programmes. According to Tito, the government had from the outset prepared a number of policies to reduce home ownership costs for low-income communities. These efforts were undertaken together with the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Public Works, including through the exemption of Building Approval retribution and Land and Building Title Transfer Duty. “This decision has been made and implemented since 25 November 2024. The aim, once again, is to make it easier for people to obtain and build houses, as well as for developers to build houses for low-income communities at more affordable prices,” he said. Tito made the remarks while chairing a Coordination Meeting combined with the signing of the Joint Decree to Support the Acceleration of the 3 Million Homes Programme and a Joint Circular on the Integration of Sustainable Food Land. The Home Affairs Minister explained that through the decree, the government is expanding the coverage of low-income communities by changing the regional classification from two to four zones. This step was taken to adjust beneficiary criteria to the economic conditions of each region while broadening public access to the 3 Million Homes Programme. “For example, in zone 1, the income threshold for unmarried individuals has increased from 7 million to 8 million rupiah, and for married individuals from 8 million to 10 million. In zone 4, specifically for Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi, because land is scarce and expensive, the low-income community definition for unmarried individuals is 12 million and for married individuals 14 million,” he revealed. Furthermore, the Home Affairs Minister highlighted the issue of domicile, which has often been an obstacle for people in obtaining Building Approval and Land and Building Title Transfer Duty exemptions. He cited the example of people who work in Jakarta but buy houses in buffer areas such as Bekasi, Tangerang, or Depok due to more affordable house prices. Therefore, through the decree, the government affirms that facilities for low-income communities are not restricted by domicile according to the local electronic identity card. “The aim is to make it easier for low-income people, wherever they are, to also obtain facilities in the form of Building Approval exemption and Land and Building Title Transfer Duty exemption, 5 percent of the Tax Object Sales Value, without having to use a local identity card or local domicile,” he added. The Home Affairs Minister explained that the policy also benefits regional governments. Besides helping to reduce the housing backlog that concerns regional heads, the policy demonstrates the government’s alignment with low-income communities while encouraging the growth of a housing development ecosystem involving the government and developers. From a regional fiscal perspective, the existence of new houses also has the potential to increase Land and Building Tax revenue because previously unproductive land becomes residential areas with economic value. “Thus, with buildings standing on what was previously vacant, idle land, which was only taxed on the land itself, there will subsequently be land and building tax. So they will benefit in the following years,” he concluded. The event was also attended by Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency Nusron Wahid, Head of the Central Statistics Agency Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, as well as governors, regents, and mayors who participated virtually.