IN MY first column for the month of October, I shared the series of activities of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) – Region VI together with its Key Shelter Agencies (KSAs) for the celebration of the National Shelter Month.
I decided to feature the department as well as our office, the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC), in my October articles to spread awareness and appreciation of our duties and functions.
On Feb. 14, 2019, then President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) No. 11201 which created the DHSUD. The law merged the Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).
Under the law, the DHSUD is the primary national government entity responsible for the management of housing, human settlement and urban development. It is the sole and main planning and policy-making, regulatory, program coordination, and performance-monitoring entity of all housing, human settlement and urban development concerns, primarily focusing on the access to and the affordability of basic human needs.
The department has jurisdiction over the registration and license of subdivision and condominium projects, farm lots, memorial parks, and columbaria. It registers real estate brokers, dealers and salesmen engaged in selling projects under DHSUD jurisdiction. Thus, the buyer must make sure that the real estate broker possesses complete DHSUD brokers’ registration documentation, and is also duly licensed with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
It is tasked to regulate housing regulations, land development and homeowners’ associations. It settles land disputes between buyers and developers as well as brokers. It oversees the organization of homeowner’s associations. It issues licenses to sell condominium units and determines the stability of housing projects of the government.
It also formulates guidelines for the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP). It reviews and ratifies the CLUP in highly urbanized cities and independent component cities. It renders technical assistance to Local Government Units (LGUs), Provincial Land Use Committee, and Regional Land Use Committee. It trains LGUs in subdivision plan approval and zoning enforcement.
The agency offers the developers services for Approval of the Condominium Plan. This includes Development Permit, Conversion Plan, and Alteration Plan.
The law also creates a National Human Settlements Board which shall exercise the powers and functions related to policy and program development of the department’s attached agencies.
The Department is to identify government lands suitable for housing and rural development within 180 days from the effectivity of the law. This is to be done jointly with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Land Registration Authority (LRA).
Should you have questions, you may visit DHSUD and its KSAs kiosks at Robinsons Place Iloilo during mall hours./PN
