THE biggest challenge to housing is the increasing number of people occupying properties they do not own.
This was shared by Minister for Housing and Local Government Maciu Nalumisa while addressing Fiji’s growing housing crisis.
He said the ministry has recognised the need for a peaceful and structured transition towards homeownership for those presently living in informal settlements.
To tackle this, the ministry is working on formalising settlements in stages to ensure individuals were not living on land that did not belong to them.
He said the focus was on developing housing solutions that promote ownership and provide affordable, decent housing for all Fijians.
“The issue that we’re trying to solve now is to shift the mindset of moving away from that situation and towards home ownership,” Mr Nalumisa said.
“We have agencies like Housing Authority as well as the Public Rental Board who play a very crucial part in the promotion of home ownership as well as provision of public rental accommodation in Fiji.
“I think that’s a very important issue right now, for the ministry as well as other agencies to promote home ownership.”
With more than 250 informal settlements across the country, Mr Nalumisa pointed out that many people resorted to squatting due to the inability of housing agencies to provide enough affordable housing.
He said the ministry was committed to creating housing models that catered to these communities, ensuring that those living in informal settlements could eventually transition to legal and stable housing arrangements.
“Those that resort to live on informal settlements are the ones that are those that are living somewhere within the middle to low income earning families.
“These are the ones that actually resort to live in those informal settlements.”
