Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday called on New Taipei City to expand its social housing program, as its progress is significantly slower than that proposed by the central government.
Su made the comments while inspecting three projects in the city’s Jhonghe District (中和), calling them “big red envelopes that the central government is gifting to Jhonghe.”
Construction and Planning Agency Director-General Wu Hsin-hsiu (吳欣修) briefed the premier at the training institute of the Directorate-General of Highways, a part of which is to be transformed into social housing.
Photo: CNA
The institute is to be pulled down and moved to the Jincheng Road Training Ground in Tucheng District (土城), he said.
The plot would then be turned into Desui House (德穗安居), a joint structure that would include the new Banciao Motor Vehicle Office and social housing, and Deguang House (德光安居), a social housing project, he said.
The two buildings, which would be able to accommodate 1,289 households, are scheduled to finish their bidding process in September next year and complete construction by the middle of 2027, he added.
The current location of the Banciao office is to be transformed into Minfu House (民富安居) to accommodate 580 households, he said, adding that bidding for the project would be decided in 2028 and its construction would be completed by August 2031.
Jhonghe residents would “benefit the most” from the three housing projects, Su said.
Two of the building sites and 97.6 percent of the third site are owned by the central government, which will fund the total construction cost of NT$11.2 billion (US$357.9 million), he said.
The central government has made the most of its landholdings to plan social housing projects in the city’s most sought-after neighborhoods, which “is no easy feat,” Su said, urging the city government to “show greater resolution in promoting the welfare of its residents.”
With a goal of building at least 33,000 housing units, the central and city governments together had, as of Tuesday last week, reached more than half of the goal, with 16,417 units either completed, under construction or whose bidding had been completed, data provided by the agency showed.
However, while the central government plans to add another 18,338 social housing units before the end of 2024, the city government has only made plans for 405 units, Su said.
With the largest population in the nation, New Taipei City is most in need of social housing, whose expense will be covered by the central government, he said.
If the city government fails to submit its proposals in time, the central government’s limited resources might be allocated to other regions, he added.
The city’s Urban Development Bureau yesterday issued a press release saying that most city-owned lands have been utilized and social housing has been built or is being built on sites that are suitable for such projects.
The city government is offering incentives to obtain land for social housing projects through various means, it added.
It also asked the Ministry of the Interior to help expedite the review of urban planning proposals that are related to social housing projects in Lujhou (蘆洲), Sindian (新店) and Tucheng districts.
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