Government mulls allowing expatriates to own houses

Ridwan Max Sijabat, THE JAKARTA POST, LAMONGAN 

Green housing: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plants a Sawo Kecik tree Tuesday at a park in the Graha Indah housing complex in Tambakrigading village, Tikung district, Lamongan, East Java. First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, several ministers and the Indonesian Military and National Police chiefs were also invited to plant various trees, after the President inaugurated the opening of some 114,000 units of healthy simple houses (RSH) in the area. JP/Ridwan Max Sijabat

Expatriates, investors in particular, living in Indonesia will no longer have to spend much money to rent luxury residences in the country. 

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday he would ask the National Land Agency (BPN), the home minister and the state minister for people's housing affairs to conduct an in-depth study into granting expats home ownership rights. 

"The government has no objection to this, provided it will benefit the people and make the country's climate more conducive to foreign investment," Yudhoyono said at the launch of 114,000 units of healthy simple houses (RSH) in Lamongan, East Java. 

The event also featured a dialogue with housing developers and homeowners, in which the Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI) raised the issue of home ownership for expatriates. 

Currently, expats in Indonesia are not allowed to own homes. 

A 1996 government regulation states they may only have house utility rights for 20 years, which may be extended for another 20 and 25 years consecutively. 

REI chairman Teguh Satria called on the government to revise the regulation to grant expatriates a 70-year home ownership right, in an effort to make the country more competitive and conducive to foreign investment. 

"This way, Indonesia will be able to compete with Singapore," he said. 

"If the government regulation is revised to allow expats to own homes, the prices of our apartments and other properties will rise sharply," he said. 

"Thus many foreign investors will not be interested in luxury residences and apartments, because they have the right to only use them for 20 years, and afterward they have to resell them or return them to the government." 

The REI also lauded the government's attention to its program to develop affordable homes for low-income people, in the hope the government would continue granting subsidies for the project. 

"SBY is the only president who has officiated three housing complexes built under the 100,000-house program, and we expect him to continue supporting the program in the coming years," Teguh said. 

Regarding on the housing subsidy, the President pointed out the government's limited capability and said it had allocated Rp 2.5 trillion in subsidies to develop affordable houses for low-ranking civil servants, servicemen and police personnel this year, with bigger amounts of the state budget allocated for the development of education, health and infrastructure projects. 

Yudhoyono also asked Indonesian Military chief Gen. Djoko Santoso and National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso, both present at Tuesday's event, to raise housing deposits for servicemen, because the monthly wages of low-ranking soldiers and police personnel had increased more than twofold to Rp 1.7 million from Rp 700,000. 

During the ceremony, the President also witnessed the handover by state insurance company PT Jamsostek of Rp 174.7 billion in housing loan assistance for 25,000 workers in East Java through state-owned Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN).