Special municipalities should reserve 5 percent of land for social welfare housing projects, while other cities and counties should reserve 3 percent, according to a measure approved by the Executive Yuan yesterday.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said that with the approval of the Measures to Promote Social Welfare Housing Policies and Increasing Usable Land for Housing Projects (推動社會住宅成果與提升社宅用地供給精進措施), the government aims to build 1 million social welfare housing units by 2031 and he had instructed the Ministry of the Interior to take charge of the policy.
Chen has also asked other ministries to work with the Ministry of the Interior on the measures, and has instructed the Ministry of the Interior to find legal bases to designate land exclusive for social welfare facilities.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Transit-oriented development and urban renewal projects should prioritize land or units reserved for social housing so the government’s goal of building social housing units can be met, the Ministry of the Interior said.
The government would also continue to offer its services to manage leases for landlords and use those houses as social housing, as well as its policies to provide subsidies for 500,000 individuals who are renting.
As of Nov. 30, the nation had built 91,189 social housing units — 46,732 units, or 51 percent, built by the central government and 44,457 units, or 49 percent, built by local governments — Minister of the Interior Lin You-chang (林右昌) said yesterday.
The number of units built by the central government had exceeded that built by local governments in just three years and the central government had built the units across the nation, including in outlying counties, he said.
He said that future construction projects by the central government would factor in actual living needs, the local population, industry development and distance to commute to work.
He said that the ministry is still inventorying public land nationwide and is planning to repurpose land that is not used to its full potential, including using old office buildings and shuttered schools for social housing projects.
Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德) had earlier pledged that if elected, he would see that the nation builds more than 1 million social housing units using various policies.
Over the past eight years, 200,000 social housing units have been added — 120,000 constructed by the government and 80,000 from government-sponsored leases, Lai said, adding that if elected, he would build an additional 130,000 units over the next eight years.
Lai said he also plans to expand government-sponsored leases to 170,000 units and increase the number of government subsidies to 500,000, which, on top of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) policy, would raise the total number of social housing units to 1 million.
Additional reporting by Hsu Yi-ping
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