Simplifying Requirements, Expanding Access to Decent Housing
The government wants to ensure that poor communities do not lose the opportunity to obtain decent housing simply because they do not yet have a certificate.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Self-Help Housing Stimulant Assistance (BSPS) programme has long been one of the government’s instruments to help low-income communities obtain more liveable housing. Through this programme, the government does not build new houses but provides a stimulant so that people can repair uninhabitable houses on a self-help basis. In addition to improving building quality, BSPS also aims to enhance the quality of life, health, and productivity of beneficiary families (Minister of Public Works and Housing Regulation Number 7 of 2022 concerning the Implementation of Self-Help Housing Stimulant Assistance).
In the midst of efforts to accelerate the Three Million Houses Programme, the Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP), Maruarar Sirait, has initiated an important change to the requirements for BSPS recipients. One requirement that has been considered a barrier to aid distribution is the obligation to show proof of land rights in the form of a certificate of ownership, girik, letter C, petok, or similar documents. Going forward, the government plans that proof of land tenure can be sufficiently demonstrated through a certificate from the village head or lurah stating that the recipient indeed controls the land in question (Statement by Minister of PKP Maruarar Sirait, July 2026).
This idea deserves appreciation because it stems from the reality faced by the community. Many poor families have lived on the same land for decades, even for generations, without possessing a land certificate. This condition is commonly found in rural areas, coastal areas, customary areas, and remote regions where access to land services is still limited. As a result, those who most need home renovation assistance often fail to become recipients simply because they are hindered by administrative requirements.
This phenomenon is not a small problem. For years, the government, through the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), has been running the Complete Systematic Land Registration (PTSL) programme as an effort to accelerate the legalisation of community assets. The existence of this programme shows that there are still millions of land parcels that have not been certified, making the simplification of BSPS requirements a fairly rational step to reach community groups that have so far been underserved.
From a public policy perspective, the plan to simplify land rights proof requirements has several advantages. Firstly, this policy will expand access for the poor to government assistance. So far, community groups with the lowest levels of welfare often have the most limited administrative documents. If the requirements are made simpler, their chances of receiving assistance will be greater. Administrative simplification