THE government plans to build 500,000 new houses by 2028 as part of its nationwide effort to provide affordable homes and reduce the number of squatters or informal settlers, the National Housing Authority (NHA) said.
More than 100,000 units have already been completed, with ongoing projects including low-rise and mid-rise buildings in major cities and provinces.
The target forms part of the Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program, the Marcos administration flagship housing initiative.
‘For this term, our target is to build at least 500,000 housing units. We’ve already completed more than a hundred thousand, and construction is ongoing,’ NHA general manager Joeben Tai said in a mix of English and Filipino on the sidelines of the National Housing Expo 2025 on Thursday in Pasay City.
With the government’s expanded housing program, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said even low-income earners will now be able to afford to buy homes through the financial support from the Home Development Mutual Fund also known as Pag-IBIG Fund.
The initiative is expected to help reduce the country’s number of informal settlers, which the National Housing Authority (NHA) said is at 1.5 million.
‘Through the Pag-IBIG Fund, affordable housing loans can now be obtained, including the offer of a three percent interest rate per year for our low-income countrymen,’ the chief executive said in Filipino in his speech during the National Housing Expo 2025.
The Housing Expo is the first to be sponsored by the government to promote the joint initiatives of the government, private sector, and stakeholders to address the country’s housing shortage.
A total of 51 contractors participated in the event, held during the ongoing celebration of National Shelter Month.
Tai said the agency is focusing its programs on Filipinos who cannot qualify for Home Development Mutual (Pag-IBIG) Fund loans, particularly those earning below P15,000 a month.
The government estimates that around 1.5 million families still live as squatters nationwide.
The Pag-IBIG Fund, which organized the two-day expo, said more than 30,000 potential homebuyers registered for the event.
It featured more than 50 private developers offering over 100,000 brand-new homes under Pag-IBIG’s housing loan program and 30,000 acquired assets at discounts of up to 40 percent.
Alongside the NHA, other key shelter agencies showcased their respective programs, such as the Social Housing Finance Corporation’s Enhanced Community Mortgage Program and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation’s online housing fair.
In July, the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations, the National Real Estate Association, the Organization of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines, and the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association committed to build around 250,000 housing units in support of the government’s flagship housing program.
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development has since reduced the national housing target to about 300,000 units by 2028, according to the midterm update of the Philippine Development Plan.
Pag-IBIG’s offerings
Under Pag-IBIG’s Expanded Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing Program or 4PH Program, its 17 million active members or those who made contributions in the last six months may avail themselves of loans for the payment of both vertical and horizontal socialized housing units.
‘Beneficiaries and graduates of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino or 4Ps program can also apply [for housing units] with the help of our Expanded 4PH [program],’ Marcos said.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is the flagship program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which provides conditional cash transfer to poor households to improve their health, nutrition, and education.
Through the assistance of Pag-IBIG, Marcos said 57,000 members of the government-owned and-controlled corporation (GOCC) were able to acquire their own homes or to repair their existing ones.
Of these, three million have accessed P75 billion in cash loans.
Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta said even minimum wage earners can secure a housing loan through the co-borrowing arrangement.
‘They can have a maximum of three people under co-borrowing,’ she told reporters in an interview at the sidelines of the Housing Expo.
Since Pag-IBIG initiated reforms in its programs, Acosta said the percentage of delinquents from its list of borrowers was pegged at 5 percent.
‘We can’t make it just 2 percent otherwise we will be strict on foreclosures,’ she said.
Unlike other financial institutions, which immediately foreclosed properties in case of loan default, Pag-IBIG Fund provides a 9-month grace period to its borrowers.
She urged Pag-IBIG borrowers to promptly settle their loans since the funds, which they used, came from all of the GOCC’s members.
Pag-IBIG Fund is currently auctioning off 30,000 foreclosed properties at the Housing Expo 2025. The common reasons for the default were the displacement of a worker and non-remittance of loan payments.
Despite the defaults, Acosta assured the public that the P1.17-trillion Pag-IBIG fund remained secure.