Jakarta. Jakarta City Council has announced it will stop issuing permits for the construction of new apartment buildings intended for private sale.

The provincial government says it will instead focus on public housing developments that can be rented by low-income residents.

Ika Lestari Adji, the Jakarta government’s public housing bureau chief, said Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama had recently ordered that construction permits for new apartment complexes be halted.

The new policy extends to all apartment buildings that are available for private purchase, including apartments known as rusunami — private developments that receive limited government subsidies.

“The governor has decided there should be no more new apartments,” Ika said at City Hall on Tuesday. “The policy moving forward is to build more rusunawa.”

Rusunawa refers to apartment-like housing complexes that the government rents out at discounted prices.

Jakarta’s public housing bureau plans to build 2,443 rentable units throughout the city this year. Government subsidies for these cheaper, government-owned apartments can cover up to 80 percent of rent.

Basuki’s new housing policy will, however, allow the construction of apartments that have already secured building permits.

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Source: The Jakarta Globe