Fixing the Cracks of a Subsidized Home

· 5 minutes read

First experiences are valuable lessons, including when purchasing a subsidized house. Before you buy, please ensure that the house is in prime condition so that you will not have to drain your wallet to repair any damage.

Yogi, 29, who owns a subsidized house in Klari district, Karawang regency, West Java, is almost broke after spending Rp 80 million (US$5,610) since 2017. That was almost 60 percent of the house’s price of Rp 140 million in 2017. The cost did not include Rp 3.5 million to dig a well and Rp 1.5 million for a septic tank.

Since living in the house, Yogi has had be extra patient and dig deep into his wallet to fix the cracks on the walls of his living room and bedroom. He also borrowed money from his relatives to elevate his verandah to protect it from flooding. “I never expected that the house would be in this condition. When I was offered the house, the show unit looked just fine,” he said, smiling bitterly, last week.

Among the major troubles Yogi has had to face are a roof that leaks and door frames that peel and expand, making it hard to shut them. When one crack is repaired, another appears.

Some owners of subsidized houses said that it was as if they were just purchasing land. The quality of the building is far below expectation.

Ika Padmasari, 40, who resides in a subsidized housing complex in Pallaga district, Gowa regency, South Sulawesi, said that she needed to make many improvements on her house after she bought it last year. “There was no clean water. There was electricity, but none of the sockets had power. I had to work on the electrical wiring,” she said.

Other problems included a roof that leaked at several spots, damaged doors and no cement on the gaps between floor tiles. “Ants and worms often showed up from these gaps,” she said.

Visitors have to go over rocky dirt roads to reach her house. The access road connecting the main road and the housing complex, located 15 kilometers from Makassar, is bumpy. Street lighting was installed by residents. Water piping is mediocre. In February, the houses were inundated by flooding.

“The brochure said that the homes had complete facilities. In reality, there were no water pipes. I had to spend Rp 2 million to dig a well. It was only after we pushed the developers that they gave us Rp 1.5 million in compensation for the bored wells,” Ika said.

Homes in the complex are priced at Rp 195 million. However, according to Ika’s neighbor Riswan, the real price is much higher, as homeowners are forced to shell out money to fix various problems.

In North Sumatra, Dedi Rizky Ginting, 32, said that he was helped by the government’s subsidized housing program. With a down payment of only Rp 15 million, he can own a house in Pancur Batu district, Deli Serdang regency. “The installments are only Rp 930,000 per month,” he said.

The 36-square-meter home has two bedrooms, a living room and a bathroom. Electricity and clean water are available. However, the building quality is problematic. Dedi had to shell out Rp 20 million to build a kitchen. The walls are also of poor quality. Several parts of the house, which Dedi has lived in since 2016, have cracked and need to be fixed.

Meanwhile, Ida Setya, 38, who lives in a subsidized house in Batu Ampar subdistrict, North Balikpapan district, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, must exercise caution every time she has to nail something on the wall in her home. Often, when she does it, parts of the wall’s outer layer crack and fall. The crack first appeared one year after she moved into the house in 2016.

Nurul, who lives in a subsidized house in North Balikpapan, said that she had to sweep the dust off the floor in her house and verandah. This is because the roads near the housing complex lack asphalt. Consequently, whenever vehicles pass by, dust flies into her house. “Even when there are no vehicles, the wind blows the dust into my house. It also gets muddy when it rains, even if it does not lead to flooding,” she said.

Report

Regarding the poor conditions of subsidized homes, the Public Housing and Residences Agency’s housing construction and development section head, Fina Wulansari Yuniar, said that she had received reports about the problem. “Monitoring of developers who do not adhere to livability standards remains poor. Currently, we are working on a regional regulation to act firmly against such developers,” she said.

The head of the West Java chapter of the Indonesian Settlement and Housing Developers Association (Apersi), Abun Yamin Syam, said that the quality of subsidized homes were in line with standards. Homeowners can file complaints up to 100 days after purchasing their homes.

Karawang regency public housing and residences agency data shows that the regency currently has 12,166 homes for residents with low incomes. Some 42 housing complexes for people with low incomes were built in 2015. In 2016, 45 such complexes were built.

North Sumatra public housing and residences agency head Ida Mariana said that between 12,000 and 15,000 subsidized homes had been built each year in the province since 2015. Medan city and Deli Serdang regency have many subsidized homes.

Ida said that limited area and permit processing were the two major problems in developing subsidized housing. Public interest in subsidized housing is low because of the poor quality of buildings, limited transportation access and faraway locations.

However, Ida said, these problems could be resolved. The government has established quality standards for subsidized homes that developers must adhere to. Homes must also have livability certificates before being purchased, with monitoring from the regional administration.

Cheap homes must not sacrifice quality. The fact is that there are still owners of subsidized homes who must shell out money to improve their homes and make them livable. (MEL/REN/NSA/CIP)

Editor:

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