While the complaints on Hiya flats when tenants initially moved in were understandable; HDC plans to conduct a survey in order to find out if the issues are still prevalent and what they can do in order to make life in Hiya flats easier on tenants.
Hulhumale Development Corporation (HDC) has announced that the company is going to conduct a survey in order to get feedback on how the company can further improve the Hiya flats for easier living conditions.
The social housing flats were an initiative by the former President Yameen, in an attempt to bring some resolve to the housing crisis in the greater Male' area. In addition to the lack of available housing, as for the recent developments in Hulhumale', most housing can be on the mid-range to higher-end even for the most basic one-room apartments.
In order to resolve this issue, social housing known as 'Hiya' flats were developed and the handing-over process was started in July 2021. The housing initiative offered tenants two-bedroom apartment flats at a cost of MVR 7000-8000 per month for 25 years. After 25 years the owner of the flat can permanently own it without having to pay rent, a dream come true for many who struggle to find proper housing in Male’ City.
However, soon after the apartments were handed over to the rightful owners by the Government, problem after problem started getting detected. From getting extremely high water bills to complaints from the Architecture Association on the design of the flats, during the first few months, there was absolutely nothing but complaints on the design and structure as well as the difficulty in living in Hiya flats.
And most of the complaints were extremely valid as the Hiya flats were the only buildings to exist in Hulhumale’ phase II at the time. Not only did this make the area extremely secluded, making it hard for people, but everything felt out-of-reach as stores and pharmacies were also located a 15 minute drive away - in Hulhumale Phase I.
However, a year and a half later, Hulhumale Phase II has become a far more attractive area to live in as the view and the future developments in the area have made it a tempting move for many. With school projects upcoming, an existing temporary school, pharmacy and even stores and cafe’s being built in the area now, Phase II looks extremely different from the deserted piece of land it was just a year back.
And while the complaints on Hiya flats when tenants initially moved in were understandable, HDC plans to conduct a survey in order to find out if the issues are still prevalent and what they can do in order to make life in in these flats easier on tenants. The survey is to be conducted in two forms: door-to-door and online participation.
The company has also noted that those who are participating in this survey do not need to give out any personal information that can compromise their security and the company will only contact tenants from the official HDC contact number. These points may have been highlighted due to the increased safety and data compromise issues taking place - also with scammers getting personal and bank details of citizens with the facade of presenting themselves as corporations such as HDC or the local bank.
With the survey set to begin before the end of February, this survey may finally bring about some improvements to Hiya flats that the tenants have been looking forward to since their initial move.
