Indonesia speeds up home renovations to cut substandard housing

Housing and Settlements Minister Maruarar Sirait said in Jakarta on Friday that the government is significantly scaling up the home renovation initiative.

As an example, he noted that the number of homes targeted for renovation in Jakarta has skyrocketed from just 158 units last year to 10,000 units this year.

According to him, accelerating the program requires the support of various parties, including regional governments and relevant agencies, to ensure optimal progress.

Sirait also expressed appreciation for the Ministry of Home Affairs, which has issued several policies that benefit the public.

Furthermore, he stated that the government is relying on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) to ensure that assistance reaches those truly in need, specifically targeting poor households and those vulnerable to poverty.

He emphasized that the housing renovation program must be run transparently, given its use of public funds. To ensure this, material requirements and budgets are disclosed to the public, and multiple building material suppliers are involved to encourage fair price competition.

He expressed hope that, through the program, the number of substandard housing units could decline significantly from 18.8 million in 2025.

He affirmed that he has also proposed increasing the BSPS target to 2 million units in 2027.

Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian assessed that the home renovation program has shown significant progress.

He also urged regional governments to actively support the implementation of the program, including by waiving the land and building acquisition tax and building approval fees.

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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar, Raka Adji