• Apartments & houses to be constructed for 800,000

The Ministry of Housing stated that with 1.5 million homeless families in Sri Lanka, they aim to address the issue by providing loans to about 700,000 families while building apartments and houses for the rest.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Deputy Minister of Housing, T.B. Sarath said that the need for housing in Sri Lanka is close to 1.5 million, adding that it is not something that can be solved all at once. “People with both low and middle incomes face this issue. Many in the urban society have the money but lack land to build houses. The main problem in Colombo is the availability of land. The people have money to build homes but no land. Therefore, we need to identify where suitable land is available.”

He also said that out of 1.5 million families that do not have homes in every district, it would be possible to provide loans to about 700,000 families and thereby solve their housing issue. “For the rest, we will have to build apartments or houses. There are long-term plans that we are working on. The budget is currently being planned. Through it, it has been proposed to allocate money for a programme to build houses for low- and middle-income families, offer loans, and build apartment complexes.”

Sri Lanka has been facing a housing crisis, with a substantial portion of the population unable to afford or access proper housing. Rapid urbanisation and limited land availability, especially in large cities like Colombo, have worsened the issue. Many families in such areas live in informal settlements or inadequate housing. Successive governments have been working to address the issue through various initiatives, but the issue is yet to be fully resolved.