The Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Act

The Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Act

THE IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBER TEN ELEVEN TWO ZERO ONE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE "DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACT"

Pursuant to Section twenty-nine of Republic Act Number ten eleven two zero one, otherwise known as the "Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Act," the following rules and regulations are hereby adopted and promulgated:

RULE ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION ONE. Title and Purpose. - These rules and regulations shall be known as the "Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Act", and shall be collectively referred to as the "Rules". This Rules shall operationalize the provisions of Republic Act Number ten eleven two zero one, herein referred to as the "Act", and provide the regulations, guidelines and procedures that shall govern the operations of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission, herein referred to as the "Department" and "Commission", respectively.

SECTION TWO. Declaration of Policy. - The State shall, pursuant to Section nine, Article thirteen of the Constitution, ensure that underprivileged and homeless citizens have access to an adequate, safe, secure, habitable, sustainable, resilient and affordable home.

The State shall, by law and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing program of housing and urban development which shall make available at affordable cost, decent housing and basic services to underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens. In the implementation of the program, the State shall respect the rights of small property owners.

The State shall pursue the realization of a modern, humane, economically-viable, and environmentally-sustainable society where the urbanization process is manifest in towns and cities being centers of productive economic activity and is led by market forces; where urban areas have affordable housing, sustainable physical and social infrastructure and services facilitated under a democratic and decentralized system of governance; and where urban areas provide the opportunities for an improved quality of life and the eradication of poverty.

The State shall ensure that poor dwellers in urban and rural areas shall not be evicted nor their dwelling demolished, except in accordance with law.

In addition, the State shall encourage on-site development in the implementation of housing programs and shall promote the creation of new settlements and development of sustainable urban renewal programs while guaranteeing the preservation of agricultural lands necessary for food security.

SECTION THREE. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Rules, the following terms or words shall mean or be understood as follows:

THREE POINT ONE. "Affordable Cost" refers to the most reasonable price of land and shelter based on the needs and financial capability of program beneficiaries and appropriate financing schemes;

THREE POINT TWO. "Agricultural Lands" refers to lands devoted to or suitable for the cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing of trees, raising of livestock, poultry, fish or aquaculture production, including the harvesting of such farm products, and other farm activities and practices performed in conjunction with such farming operations by persons whether natural or juridical and not classified by law as mineral land, forest land, residential land, commercial land, or industrial land as defined in Republic Act number eight four three five, otherwise known as the "Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act";

THREE POINT THREE. "Abandoned Subdivision or Condominium" refers to a project whose development has not been completed in accordance with the approved development plan despite the lapse of at least ten years from the target date of completion and it appears that the project owner or developer has no intention to complete the project development or, despite diligent effort for at least the last five years, the project owner or developer cannot be located;

THREE POINT FOUR. "Community Development" refers to the process of empowering communities, particularly housing development beneficiaries, through social preparation and participatory planning, development and implementation of programs, projects and activities that will enable the community to be self-reliant and attain a better quality of life;

THREE POINT FIVE. "Community Mortgage Program" refers to a mortgage financing program of the Social Housing Finance Corporation which assists legally organized associations of underprivileged and homeless citizens to purchase and develop a tract of land under the concept of community ownership;

THREE POINT SIX. "Comprehensive Land Use Plan" (CLUP) refers to the document, formulated by the local government in consultation with its stakeholders, that defines or provides guidelines on the allocation, utilization, development and management of all lands, within a given territory or jurisdiction, including municipal waters, according to the inherent qualities of the land itself and supportive economic, demographic, socio- cultural and environmental objectives;

THREE POINT SEVEN. "Condominium Project" refers to the entire parcel of real property divided or to be divided primarily for residential purposes into condominium units, including all structures thereon, which complies with the requirements and standards provided under Presidential Decree Number nine five seven, otherwise known as the "Subdivision and Condominium Buyers' Protective Decree", and its implementing rules and regulations;

THREE POINT EIGHT. "Economic Housing Project" refers to residential subdivision projects and condominium projects which are sold at or below the prevailing price ceiling for economic housing and compliant with the standards provided under Batas Pambansa Number two hundred twenty, otherwise known as "An Act Authorizing the Ministry of Human Settlements to Establish and Promulgate Different Levels of Standards and Technical Requirements for Economic and Socialized Housing projects in Urban and Rural Areas From Those provided Under Presidential Decrees Numbered Nine Hundred Fifty Seven, Twelve Hundred Sixteen, Ten Hundred Ninety Six and Eleven Hundred Eighty-Five", and its implementing rules and regulations;

THREE POINT NINE. "Environmental Planning", also known as urban and regional planning, city planning, town and country planning, and/or human settlements planning, refers to the multi-disciplinary art and science of analyzing, specifying, clarifying, harmonizing, managing and regulating the use and development of land and water resources, in relation to their environs, for the development of sustainable communities and ecosystems;

THREE POINT TEN. "Government Housing Project" refers to subdivisions, condominium buildings, medium-rise buildings, new settlements and other similar residential projects owned, managed or funded by the government;

THREE POINT ELEVEN. "Government Lands" refers to parcels of land whose ownership or title pertains to the government, or any of its agencies, subdivisions, or instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries and lands placed under the jurisdiction of the above entities by virtue of proclamations signed by the President. Government lands also include rights-of-way or road titles;

THREE POINT TWELVE. "Homeowners Association" (HOA) refers to a non-stock, nonprofit corporation registered with the Department, or previously registered with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board or the Home Insurance Guarantee Corporation or the Securities and Exchange Commission, organized by owners or purchasers of a lot in a subdivision/village or other residential real property located within the jurisdiction of the association; or awardees, usufructuaries, legal occupants and/or lessees of a housing unit and/or lot in a government socialized or economic housing or relocation project and other urban estates; or underprivileged and homeless citizens as defined under existing laws in the process of being accredited as usufructuaries or awardees of ownership rights under the Community Mortgage Program, Land Tenure Assistance Program and other similar programs in relation to a socialized housing project actually being implemented by the national government or the local government unit;

THREE POINT THIRTEEN. "Housing" refers to:

(a) A multi-dimensional concept relating to the process of residing and the objects of dwelling whose main attributes are location relative to access to livelihood, tenure arrangements, cost and physical structure, as well as their environment;

(b) A physical structure as well as a social structure, functioning at different spatial scales from homes, neighborhoods, communities, municipalities, cities, provinces, and regions; and

(c) A sector of the economy, an important category of land use in both urban and rural areas, especially in cities, and is an important factor in the overall dynamics of the urban system;

Three point fourteen "Housing Cooperative" refers to an association organized to assist or provide access to housing for the benefit of its regular members who actively participate in the savings program for housing. It is co-owned and controlled by its members;

Three point fifteen "Housing Finance" refers to the comprehensive funds flow system covering the entire housing provision cycle from identification of financial requirements to fund sourcing for various aspects of the housing program, such as lot acquisition, development/construction and end-users' financing, and securitization of home mortgages and other housing related receivables or financial products;

Three point sixteen "Human Settlements" refers to and comprises:

(a) The physical components of shelter and infrastructure; and

(b) The services to which the physical elements provide support, such as community services which include education, health, culture, welfare, recreation and nutrition;

Three point seventeen "Idle Lands" refers to non-agricultural lands in urban and urbanizable areas on which no improvements have been made by the owner, as certified by the city, municipal or provincial assessor;

Three point eighteen "In-City Resettlement" refers to a relocation site within the jurisdiction of the local government unit where the informal settler families are living;

Three point nineteen "Informal Settler Families" refers to households living in a lot, whether private or public, without the consent of the property owner; or those without legal claim over the property they are occupying; or those living in danger areas such as esteros, railroad tracks, garbage dumps, riverbanks, shorelines, and waterways;

Three point twenty "Land Banking" refers to the acquisition of land at values based on existing use in advance of actual need to promote planned development and socialized housing programs;

Three point twenty-one "Local Government Unit" refers to provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays;

Three point twenty-two "Local Shelter Plan" refers to a document which provides information on the analysis of the present local housing situation, i.e., identification of housing problems, upgrading and future housing needs, household affordability and local resources such as land, provision of basic services and finances. It also contains the main shelter strategies and a corresponding implementation plan which provides the details of actions needed to realize the housing objectives;

Three point twenty-three "Near-City Resettlement" refers to a relocation site within the jurisdiction of a Local Government Unit adjacent to the Local Government Unit having jurisdiction over the present settlements of the informal settler families;

Three point twenty-four "Neighborhood Association" refers to a group of potential public housing beneficiaries living in contiguous areas, identified and accredited by or organized with the assistance of the Local Government Unit for the purpose of availing of housing programs or projects being implemented by the said Local Government Unit;

Three point twenty-five "Off-city relocation" refers to the development of a site outside and not adjacent to the Local Government Unit where the affected informal settler families have their settlements;

Three point twenty-six "People's Plan" refers to the plan formulated by the beneficiary-association, which shall contain a site development plan that conforms to the zoning ordinance of the Local Government Unit under whose jurisdiction the project site is proposed to be located, including community health, sanitation, and security plans, as well as non-physical development components such as self-help housing cooperative, livelihood, self-help development, capability building, and a system of allocation of socialized housing units that promote and protect the welfare of the elderly, persons with disability, and children;

Three point twenty-seven "Prototype Projects" refers to an early sample, model of a housing project or design, or the pilot implementation of a housing and urban development concept, program or process for the purpose of testing its viability or sustainable replication;

Three point twenty-eight "Public-Private Partnership" refers to a contractual agreement between the Government and a private firm targeted towards financing, designing, implementing and operating infrastructure facilities and services that were traditionally provided by the public sector;

Three point twenty-nine "Public Housing" refers to programs and projects owned and/or managed by the government for the purpose of providing housing to underserved families;

Three point thirty "Real Estate Projects" or "Real Estate Development Projects" refers to subdivisions, condominiums, townhouses, memorial parks, columbaria and other similar projects which by law are subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the Department;

Three point thirty-one "Rental Housing" refers to housing where the occupancy is permitted by the owner in consideration of the agreed payment charges, whether or not by the terms of agreement such payment over a period of time will entitle the occupant to the ownership of the premises;

Three point thirty-two "Resettlement Areas" refers to sites identified by the appropriate national agency or by the Local Government Unit within its jurisdiction, which shall be used for the relocation of the underprivileged and homeless citizens and other qualified households;

Three point thirty-three "Resilient Housing" refers to housing that is equipped with an adequate capacity to resist, absorb and accommodate the effects of climate change and hazards and to return to normal conditions in a timely and effective manner without significant changes to its basic functions and structures;

Three point thirty-four "Rural Development" refers to the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas;

Three point thirty-five "Socialized Housing" refers to housing programs and projects covering houses and lots or homelots only, or residential condominium units undertaken by the government or the private sector for the underprivileged and homeless citizens which shall include sites and services development, long-term financing, liberalized terms on interest payments, and such other benefits in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act seventy-two seventy-nine, otherwise known as the "Urban Development and Housing Act", as amended by Republic Act one zero eight eighty-four, otherwise known as the "Balanced Housing Development Program Amendments";

Three point thirty-six "Socialized Housing Project" refers to residential subdivision projects and condominium projects undertaken by the government or the private sector which are sold at or below the prevailing price ceiling for socialized housing and compliant with the standards provided under Batas Pambansa two hundred twenty and its implementing rules and regulations;

Three point thirty-seven "Socialized Housing Tax" pertains to the imposition of the additional one-half percent tax on the assessed value of all lands in urban areas in excess of fifty thousand pesos that LGUs are authorized to impose under Section forty-three of Republic Act seventy-two seventy-nine;

Three point thirty-eight "Subdivision Project" refers to a tract or a parcel of land registered under Presidential Decree fifteen twenty-nine, otherwise known as the "Property Registration Decree", or previously under Act number four hundred ninety-six, otherwise known as the "The Land Registration Act", which is partitioned primarily for residential purposes into individual lots with or without improvements, and offered to the public for sale, in cash or in installment terms. It shall include all residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas as well as open spaces and other community and public areas in the project;

Three point thirty-nine "Underprivileged and Homeless Citizens" refers to the beneficiaries of Republic Act seventy-two seventy-nine and to individuals or families residing in urban and urbanizable areas whose income or combined household income falls within the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority and who do not own housing facilities. This shall include those who live in makeshift dwelling units and do not enjoy security of tenure;

Three point forty "Underserved Families" refers to those who are disadvantaged in terms of access to basic services because of inability to pay or other disparities by reason of economic or social status, ethnicity, geographical isolation, and other circumstances;

Three point forty-one "Urban Development" refers to the process of occupation and use of land or space for activities such as residential, industrial, commercial and the like or their combinations, necessary to carry out the functions of urban living. It entails the building or rebuilding of more or less permanent structures over land that is often withdrawn or converted from its original use, resulting in the creation of a built environment;

Three point forty-two "Urban Development Planning" refers to the process that involves the planning of diverse elements that comprise an urbanizing and urbanized area, including its physical infrastructure, environment, housing, transportation and management of land use and urban growth;

Three point forty-three "Zoning" refers to the division of a community into districts, for example, commercial, residential, industrial, institutional, and so on, in order to maximize, regulate and direct their use and development according to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. It is also concerned primarily with the use of land and through imposition of building heights, bulk, open space and density in a given area; and

Three point forty-four "Zoning Ordinance" refers to a locally enacted ordinance which embodies, among others, regulations affecting uses allowed or disallowed in each zone or district, conditions for allowing them, and deviations legally allowed, from the requirements of the ordinance.