House Renovation Programme Planned for Inclusion in Kemendagri's Outstanding Regional Government Appreciation Assessment
The house renovation and public housing construction programme is planned to become one of the new categories in the Outstanding Regional Government Appreciation event organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri). This idea emerged during the Outstanding Regional Government Appreciation 2026 Regional Kalimantan in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, recently.
Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP) Maruarar Sirait stated that the housing sector deserves to be an indicator for evaluating regional heads’ performance because it is directly related to poverty and community welfare. “If someone doesn’t have a house, they are likely poor, even extremely poor,” said Maruarar in front of regional heads across Kalimantan.
The man familiarly called Ara said the government is currently expanding the large-scale people’s house renovation programme. If in 2025 the number of houses renovated is around 45,000 units, this year the government targets 400,000 house units across Indonesia.
In addition to house renovations, the government is also expanding access to subsidised housing for low-income communities. Not only formal workers, now vegetable sellers, ojek drivers, grave diggers, to UMKM actors can also access subsidised housing financing with low interest rates.
The government also provides various incentives such as exemption from Acquisition Duty on Land and Building Rights (BPHTB), Building Construction Approval (PBG), to Value Added Tax Borne by the Government (PPN DTP).
Ara assessed that the creative financing approach or “government entrepreneur” needs to be expanded in the regions. This concept combines the role of government and entrepreneurial innovation to accelerate development without fully relying on the State Budget (APBN).
Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian, in the same forum, welcomed the proposal to include the housing sector in the Outstanding Regional Government Appreciation assessment indicators. Housing issues, said Tito, are closely related to unemployment, poverty, and regional economic growth. “Housing is an underlying cost. People with inadequate housing definitely fall into the poorest group,” he stated.
Tito said the Outstanding Regional Government Appreciation event will be held in three waves with evolving assessment categories. After focusing on inflation, unemployment, poverty, stunting, and creative financing, the government plans to include housing indicators in the next wave.
He even opened opportunities for incentive collaboration between Kemendagri and the Ministry of PKP. Regional heads with the best housing programmes could obtain additional renovation quotas or fiscal incentives. “If regional heads care about people’s housing, that can become an important measure of regional government performance,” said Tito.
Kemendagri has prepared a budget of Rp 1 trillion for fiscal incentives for outstanding regions. The assessment is based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and involves independent media, including Tempo Media Group, to maintain objectivity.
The award event is held on a regional system so that regions compete within relatively similar regional characteristics. After Sumatra and Kalimantan, the assessment will continue to Sulawesi, Java-Bali, Maluku-Nusa Tenggara, to Papua.