Tiny housing in Indonesia to face shortages, a “legalization of extreme cramped conditions”
Faced with a shortage of several million homes, the Indonesian government has launched a massive social housing construction program, some of which is no larger than 14 square meters. This has sparked a heated debate in the country.
By 2023, Indonesia's housing shortage was estimated at 9.9 million. This already worrying figure could reach 15 million this year, with 80% of the housing shortage occurring in urban areas of this country of 283 million people.
Faced with the shortage, President Prabowo Subianto launched an ambitious "three million homes" program in October 2024 to build social housing on the outskirts of cities. The project is estimated to cost nearly $1.5 billion (€1.27 billion). But the publication of the first plans, showing units ranging from 14 to 24 square meters , has sparked a heated debate about their decency and habitability.
Under the impact of real estate pressures and urban densification, the price per square meter in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, has skyrocketed to nearly 50% of the average annual income. As a result, more than 81 million millennials (those born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s) are excluded from home ownership, with Indonesia ranking fourth in the world in terms of housing affordability by 2024.
For a large part of the active youth, “becoming a homeowner is no longer just difficult, it has become structurally impossible,” summarizes Th
Courrier International
