Housing Minister Drafts Law to Tackle National Backlog

Minister of Housing and Residential Areas (PKP) Maruarar Sirait has announced that the government is drafting a new Housing Law to accelerate the handling of the housing backlog through strengthened data, financing, land availability, and cross-ministerial synergy. Maruarar, familiarly known as Ara, stated that the regulation is being discussed with the Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, who provided extensive input based on his years of experience managing strategic government policies. “I have also conveyed during the discussion that we are drafting the Housing Law. There was a lot of good input because Mr Luhut is very experienced in government, having served as Coordinating Minister, Chief of Presidential Staff, and other ministerial roles,” Ara said after a limited meeting with DEN Chairman Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in Jakarta on Thursday. The government plans to meet again next week to formulate policy synchronisation so that all aspects of housing development can proceed in an integrated and mutually supportive manner. “So, we plan to meet again next week to formulate how to synchronise housing matters related to the entire housing ecosystem,” he stated. This synchronisation will involve various ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) as the national data provider. The Ministry of Housing will also integrate aspects of land availability, financing, databases, and other supporting policies into a single ecosystem to accelerate housing provision for the public. “So there is land, there is financing, there is data, and so on, all as one unit,” he said. The drafting of the Housing Law will serve as the foundation for accelerating the resolution of the housing backlog by strengthening the national housing ecosystem. The housing backlog refers to the gap between the number of houses needed by the public and the number of houses available. The Minister of PKP and the DEN Chairman are strengthening the national housing ecosystem through the integration of data, technology, and cross-sector policies. “Today we had a long discussion with the DEN Chairman, Mr Luhut. The number one agenda was how IT, AI, and technology can make things more transparent, faster, and more targeted, based on data,” Ara said. He added that the main discussion with the DEN focused on utilising information technology, artificial intelligence, and data-based systems to ensure all housing programmes run transparently and are accurately targeted. The Ministry of PKP will synchronise its internal database with data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and with support from the DEN team to produce more accurate and integrated national housing data. This synchronisation includes collecting data on the housing backlog by name and address, covering both people who do not yet own a home and those living in uninhabitable dwellings across Indonesia. The integrated data will also serve as the basis for distributing housing stimulus assistance, including house renovation programmes.