The ‘Udhares’ housing project
These housing initiatives are carried out under a Government housing project ‘Gedhoruveriya; which aims to develop 1,000 mixed residential flats - the latest development ‘Udhares’ is to be completed in 2023.
The development of the housing sector has become more important than ever as people have started migrating from the local islands of the Maldives to the capital city looking for better education, medical purposes and work. With the local islands of the Maldives having their own limitations when it comes to these sectors, it is not uncommon in the Maldives to move to the big capital city looking for work.
Over the years, the lack of decentralization measures and effort put into the development of islands as well as the increased opportunities being created in the capital city has caused a majority of Maldivians to move or do long-term stays in Male’ city at one point in their life. This has evidently caused the capital city to get clustered, leading to housing getting extremely unaffordable.
With the lack of land and the increase in the rising number of buildings, the majority of the people in the capital city opt for renting- most never owning their own homes. Over the years, gradually rent has increased and paying for a one-bedroom apartment has also started costing the equivalent of an average person’s paycheque.
In order to combat these increasing prices and make life a bit more affordable in the Maldives, the Government has started several housing projects over the years.
These housing initiatives are carried out under a Government housing project ‘Gedhoruveriya; which aims to develop 1000 mixed residential flats - the latest development ‘Udhares’ is to be completed in 2023. The Udhares towers, which are to be completed in two different phases, aim to develop a total of 4,000 housing units.
With the construction being carried out by two different Indian companies JMC projects and NBCC, each company has been assigned with completing the construction of 2,000 housing units each. The completion of the first phase is anticipated by August 2023, with the entire project estimated to be completed by 2025.
The application process for this housing project was opened up in October 2022, receiving an overwhelming amount of 20,697 applications for the flats. With each housing project receiving thousands of applications each year, the need for proper and affordable housing in the Maldives is becoming increasingly important over the years.
Especially now, as the living cost in countries appears to be increasing with each passing year while there are little to no changes in the household income made to support such finances.
