The president of the Association of Builders and Housing Developers (Acoprovi), Annerys Meléndez, has several demands on the agenda of that entity for which she expects a timely government response.
The one in which he expresses the most urgency is in his request for a prompt reduction of the rate of interest “very high” which, he says, has a significant impact on the home salesespecially in those of low cost.
But Meléndez also advocates for greater facilities for the sectorboth with incentives to the construction of housing for rentnew retention scheme to be able to take the workers from the sector to social security and changes in the proposal Law of Rentals that is currently being discussed in Congress, so that the piece includes the provisions for which, for years, it has advocated Acoprovi.
“Sales are already being affected, definitely… the dwelling of low “Cost, for example, is greatly affected, because it is a segment in which any increase in the quota that you are going to have affects the purchase decision… And that is a vicious circle because those who had already bought it return it and those who were going to make the decision (to buy) say no,” he said during an interview with Diario Libre.
Meléndez cites that in the market the rates for credit mortgage are around 14% and 16%, but the information from the Superintendency of Banks, the rate monthly for credit mortgage is 10.9%.
The reality described is not, however, reflected in the mortgage loan statistics compiled by the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA), which for the year 2022 registered 77,271 loans awardedfor an amount of 191,075 million pesos. For the following year, the amount of loans rose to 86,637, worth 227,124.
As of May of this year, the ABA has registered 88,827, for an amount of 235,041 million pesos.
Funds of pensions to finance housing rent
The representative of the sector construction hopes that the government will give incentives to the construction of dwelling for rentsuch as financing projects with resources from the funds of pensions or rates of interest special for the sector.
Meléndez assumes that not all citizens can afford to buy a dwellingand that having builders with facilities to develop this type of rental would reduce costs.
He points out that currently, the market is dominated by individuals who have a second home. dwelling and they make their own rules. He believes that with large-scale investors competing equally in the market, more price stability is guaranteed and more harmony is achieved in the condominiums, since they would have a single owner.
In the case of the workers of the constructionFor workers who are paid by the day or piecework and whose monthly pay is usually less than the minimum wage, Meléndez wants the method of deduction for social security payments to be changed.
He argues that the Social Security Treasury makes a discount scale based on the minimum contributory salary, forcing employers and employees to pay a fee greater than the amount paid or received, respectively. He points out that these charges usually greatly reduce the income of the workerswho prefer not to be included in social security so that they are not overcharged.
From the Law of rentals
For the president of Acoproviif the preliminary draft is approved Law of Rentals that is currently being studied, many of the evils that exist today would continue, due to the outdated nature of current legislation.
He criticises the fact that the draft bill does not contemplate the termination of a contract by mutual agreement, as occurs in civil matters.
One point he makes is that the figure of an inspector is added as a conciliation entity, before conflicts between owners and tenants reach a justice of the peace court. This, he says, would increase the time to resolve conflicts between the parties, since in the event of no conciliation, it could take up to two months before reaching a court.
The idea that the justice of the peace should go to the place of eviction would also increase the risk, since he would not be able to do so in a timely manner due to the accumulation of cases that may be presented in a court.
“We have always been in favor of updating the law of rentals to promote a market of rent healthy and promotes affordable prices of rent“But if it remains as it was approved a few days ago, that law would definitely have no effect,” exclaims Meléndez.
Regarding the irregularities that occur in the country regarding the purchase of off-plan homes, Meléndez insisted on the need for buyers to carefully study the contracts and look for companies that are recognized in the market to avoid scams or defects in the units that are delivered to them. Regarding construction defects, he says that these can always occur, due to the precarious nature of construction in the country, due to the lack of technical expertise in the sector, but that they usually only occur in aspects of finishing, because the structure is very safe. He insists that, if one buys from recognized companies, the builder always undertakes to correct any defects that may arise.
