Since land prices in the inner city area are higher, most property developers that have been supporting the government’s housing program opted to build subsidized housing on the outskirts of the city, Public Works and Public Housing Ministry housing provision director general Syarif Burhanuddin said on Friday.

“Such actions could make negative impacts on low-income people because the farther they live from the city, the more they have to pay for transportation and other necessities,” he said.

(Read also: Paperwork hampers govt housing program)

To tackle this problem, the government plans to give incentives to developers who want to build houses in the city by relaxing the rules to obtain location and building permits. Additionally, the government would also support developers in developing infrastructure and utilities, such as roads, drains and street lighting.

Syarif added that another challenge of the program was the complicated regulations that hamper people’s ability to obtain subsidized housing.

The ministry's data, as of Dec. 30, showed that the latest figure for the 1 million houses program was 805,169, up from 699,770 houses in 2015.(jun)

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