Home Affairs Minister: Private Sector Involvement Key to Optimising Public Housing Programme

Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian has asserted that private sector involvement is a critical factor in optimising the realisation of the Public Housing Programme. Consequently, the Ministry of Home Affairs will continue to encourage regional governments to provide various conveniences for developers so that the construction of homes for the public, particularly low-income communities, can proceed more swiftly. “What must be done is to encourage the private sector to work. And their engine is actually much larger than the government’s engine,” Tito said in a written statement on Wednesday (22/7/2026). He made the remarks while attending the inauguration of the Central Executive Board of the All-Indonesia Housing and Settlement Developers Association for the 2026-2031 term at The Ritz-Carlton Mega Kuningan, Jakarta, on Tuesday (21/7) evening. According to Tito, efforts to resolve the housing backlog cannot rely solely on the State Budget and Regional Budgets. Therefore, the business ecosystem must be spurred so that the provision of housing for the public can be carried out properly. Tito explained that the government has introduced various policies that provide convenience to developers. These include the exemption of Building Approval retribution and Land and Building Acquisition Duty for low-income communities, as well as the simplification of licensing through Public Service Malls. However, the implementation of these policies is considered uneven across all regions. Because of this, Tito requested the active role of developers to report regions that have not implemented these policies optimally. Furthermore, Tito also confirmed that the Ministry of Home Affairs will conduct a special evaluation of regions deemed to be hindering the acceleration of housing development. “I want to obtain data from fellow developers on which regions are making things difficult, which regions are sluggish. I want to hold a separate zoom meeting with them and, if necessary, I will issue a letter of reprimand to them,” Tito stressed. Tito assessed that the concerns of some regions regarding the potential loss of Regional Original Revenue due to the exemption of Building Approval and Land and Building Acquisition Duty for low-income communities are unfounded. According to Tito, the economic and social benefits generated by housing development are far greater. He explained that the more people have liveable homes, the more the poverty rate will decrease. Additionally, housing construction activities will create jobs, increase transactions in the building materials sector, and expand the tax base for Land and Building Tax in subsequent years. To strengthen this policy, the Ministry of Home Affairs will also coordinate with the Finance and Development Supervisory Agency so that the implementation of the fee and duty exemptions for low-income communities becomes an aspect that is also monitored in the regions. Furthermore, the Ministry of Home Affairs will give appreciation to regions that support the public housing programme. Concluding his speech, Tito invited the association to continue strengthening communication with regional heads. He stated that collaboration between regional heads and developer associations is an important part of accelerating the resolution of housing issues in Indonesia. The event was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas Maruarar Sirait, Head of the Central Statistics Agency Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, and other related parties.