The deadline passes at 3 pm today for the second phase of the 'Binveriya' and 'Gedhoruveriya' housing schemes announced by the government to award flats and land plots for people who have lived in Male' for over 20 years.
The government invited applications for the schemes on September 24. According to the Housing and Planning Ministry, 15,558 forms were submitted for the 'Binveriya' scheme and more than 17,000 forms were submitted to the 'Gedhoruveriya' scheme by Tuesday morning.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced that land plots under phase two of the scheme are to be awarded from the Uthuru Thila Falhu lagoon. A 215-hectare area is to be reclaimed from the lagoon.
The total size of the land designated for issuing the plots is 5.53 million square feet. The minimum size of the plots will be 1,250 square feet. If more than seven people participate in a joint application, the size will be 4,000 square feet, which is the maximum plot size.
Maldivians over 18 years of age who do not own land were eligible to apply. People who have either resided in Male' for at least 20 years or were never registered in any other island could apply for plots under the scheme.
Eligibility criteria:
- Be a citizen of Male'
- Be 18 years of age
- Spent 15 years as a registered Male' resident (only the main applicant) or lived uninterrupted in Male' for 15 years (only the main applicant)
- Main applicant or co-applicants were never provided housing under a government housing scheme
- (Main applicant or co-applicants) never bought a housing unit/plot larger than 600 square feet from Male' city (private real estate market) or signed an agreement to buy and started making payments
- At the date of application, main applicant never gifted or sold a place larger than 600 square feet in Male' in the past three years
- Monthly income does not exceed MVR 60,000 (main applicant and co-applicants separately)
9,001 plots, 15,000 flats under first phase
The government decided to award plots to 97 percent of applicants under the ‘Binveriya’ scheme. That is 9,003 plots for 18,955 people. The plots are to be awarded from Hulhumale', Gulhifalhu and Giraavaru. Work on handing over plot registries is ongoing.
Some 20,697 people applied for flats under the scheme. The government decided at the time to award flats to all eligible applicants. The provisional list of recipients released on August 8 included 15,046 eligible applicants.
The government has been building 32 towers with 18 floors each in Hulhumale' phase two for the housing scheme. The towers include 1,200 two-bedroom units and 2,800 three-bedroom units. Work is nearing completion on the flats.
In addition, the Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation contracted India's Kalpataru Projects International Limited to build 4,000 flats in Hulhumale'. Another contractor was enlisted for a further 2,000 flats.
